Here's A Problem To Solve. The Givens Are:

Problem: Life, living it from birth to natural death.
“Living it”: Growing up, functioning, doing all the things a body does, all the things a human does.

Our Given: A functioning body which we need think about almost never.

Isn’t that amazing? We didn’t have to form our brain, that marvelously complex thinking machine between our ears and on top of our mouth. There was no need to design and build plumbing, a waste removal system, a circulation pattern that would feel all the cells, the reproductive stuff, mobility, eyesight. Then to have some of these continue working while we sleep.

Listening to some people, you’d think they designed and built their looks all by themselves, without benefit of their parents’ contribution, their ancestors’ DNA, or any of the factors that go into making us attractive. In the musical “1776,” Ben Franklin sings, “I invented myself.” He’s the only one.

In my second-year high school geometry course, we had a couple of givens for each problem. In our bodies, almost everything is given; all we have to do is take care of it and our difficulties will be few. Sure, things will mess up (been there, etc.), but as I sit here typing, my fingers obey the instructions my mind tells them to do, itself in obedience to my thoughts. I keep breathing without thinking about it, my heart keeps beating, my stomach processes the tea next to me.