What Difference Does it Make
The turmoil associated with adolescence is often put down to "raging hormones" with good reason. The secretion of hormones at puberty controls all our secondary sexual characteristics.
Hormones are chemicals secreted into the blood stream by various special glands in our body. They regulate the principal activities of the body, such as growth and development. Each hormone has its own formula which functions like the address on a letter. It guarantees delivery to a particular organ, regardless of the route taken in the blood stream.
Hormones are similar in human males and females, with the exception of the sex hormones. The characteristics of males, what are called the secondary sex characteristics, are stimulated by an important hormone called testosterone. The secondary sexual characteristics in females are stimulated by the hormone estrogen.
The structures of these two rather large molecules are quite alike. There’s just one small difference between them. Testosterone has just one oxygen atom, where the female hormone has an oxygen and a hydrogen atom. Such a very small difference, only one atom! Whoever coined the phrase "Vive la difference" hit the nail on the head. This modest difference in the molecular structure makes all the difference in the world to our lives.
So next time you hear about "raging hormones" remember that for molecules, a small difference has huge consequences.
It’s incredible what difference one small chemical can make. Actually it’s an atomic difference! But something small and seemingly insignificant can radically alter the end product. It is difficult to reduce gender differences down to one hydrogen atom though. Perhaps it is because that one atom affects every cell in the entire body that the differences can be so marked and so pervasive.
The same thing could be true of chemical and genetic alterations in diseases. One small change at the level of protein building blocks and we experience a congenital disorder rather than health. As humans we are so complex and finely tuned, it is amazing that such a thing as “normal” exists!
It’s interesting to think on other levels of life, how the seemingly insignificant can take on enormous implications. That fortuitous investment (or lottery ticket!), that chance encounter, that wrong turn, that minor decision. All of these have the potential for life changing experiences. That “one small thing” can be a pervasive influence on all areas in our life, whether for good or for ill.
Sometimes these things just happen to us - circumstances that occur which alter the course of our lives. At other times, it is as the result of decisions and actions which we have undertaken. It’s not always possible to know how these events will play out in the long run.
However, it is also important to realize that the one small thing we say or do can have a significant impact on the lives of others. Our words and actions have the potential to alter our environment and the people who inhabit it. Remember the difference one small atom makes to the entire human race!
The concept of ‘one small thing’ is a haunting one. It makes us much more responsible in life than we care to admit. This is an awesome power. Quite naturally we think of people and events which changed the course of history as being larger than life. Yet what we are contemplating today are the little things - the seemingly insignificant things which change our world - and us in the process.
What brings the insignificant to the fore are issues like timing, occasion, fit, and pervasiveness throughout the system. A kindness can bring much blessing to others: a moral wrong can bring harm. And we, in the process of our actions and words, may be as much the recipient of these outcomes as the occasion for them.
Dr. David Humphreys and Debbie Hughes
© August 2004
