Wednesday's Word -- Cell

Today, I've been thinking about the word "cell," as in "cell of my circumstance."  The most obvious meaning is a room of confinement, as in "prison cell," but here are some thoughts to ponder.

Cell

The word "cell" comes from the Latin "cellula," meaning "a small room."  In a biological sense, a cell is the smallest structural unit of living matter that is able to function independently.  An English physicist named Robert Hooke was the first one to use the word cell in this way, when in 1665 he compared cork cells he saw through his microscope to the small rooms monks lived in.  

Put simply, the cell is an organism in miniature.  The building block of life.  The blueprint is contained in the DNA, which is packaged into chromosomes in the nucleus of each cell.

So, while the word "cell" sounds confining (a small room for pacing), I like to think about it as a word of potential.  Your circumstance may feel like an imprisonment at times, but your own personal "cell" contains a blueprint (perhaps packaged up tight in some corner) for potential, for growth, for something amazing.  You already have everything you need to make a start.