What is it?

What is it that makes a person so inert that they can't even move if the world comes crashing down?

What is it that keeps a person so glued to their seat that they end up losing all feeling in their extremities?

What is it that's powerful enough to make a person numb to even finding someone who can actually make them happy?

What is it that drains all words from a formerly talkative person's tongue and mutes them?

What is it that blackens any and all motivation and feeling?

What is it that brings about such a dark, still calm after so many storms?

What is it that silences even fear?

What is it?

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numb

adj. numb·er, numb·est

1. Deprived of the power to feel or move normally; benumbed: toes numb with cold; too numb with fear to cry out.

2. Emotionally unresponsive; indifferent: numb to yet another appeal.
tr. & intr.v. numbed, numb·ing, numbs

To make or become numb.

[Middle English nome, variant of nomin, past participle of nimen, to seize, from Old English niman; see nem- in Indo-European roots.]

numbly adv.

numbness n.

Word History: Old English had a number of strong verbs (often loosely called "irregular" verbs) that did not survive into Modern English. One such was the verb niman, "to take," later replaced by take, a borrowing from Old Norse. The verb had a past tense nam and a past participle numen; if the verb had survived, it would likely have become nim, nam, num, like swim, swam, swum. Although we do not have the verb as such anymore, its past participle is alive and well, now spelled numb, literally "taken, seized," as by cold or grief. (The older spelling without the b is still seen in the compound numskull.) The verb also lives on indirectly in the word nimble, which used to mean "quick to take," and then later "light, quick on one's feet."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

numb [nʌm]

adj

1. deprived of feeling through cold, shock, etc.

2. unable to move; paralysed

3. characteristic of or resembling numbness a numb sensation

vb

(tr) to make numb; deaden, shock, or paralyse

[C15 nomen, literally: taken (with paralysis), from Old English niman to take; related to Old Norse nema, Old High German niman]

numbly adv

numbness n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 6th Edition 2003. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003

Thesaurus

Verb

1.
numb - make numb or insensitive; "The shock numbed her senses"
benumb, blunt, dull, desensitise, desensitize - cause not to be sensitive; "The war desensitized many soldiers"; "The photographic plate was desensitized"

Adj.

1.
numb - lacking sensation; "my foot is asleep"; "numb with cold"
benumbed, asleep, insensible - incapable of physical sensation; "insensible to pain"; "insensible earth"

2.
numb - (followed by `to') not showing human feeling or sensitivity; unresponsive; "passersby were dead to our plea for help"; "numb to the cries for mercy"
dead, insensitive - deficient in human sensibility; not mentally or morally sensitive; "insensitive to the needs of the patients"

3.
numb - so frightened as to be unable to move; stunned or paralyzed with terror; petrified; "too numb with fear to move"
afraid - filled with fear or apprehension; "afraid even to turn his head"; "suddenly looked afraid"; "afraid for his life"; "afraid of snakes"; "afraid to ask questions"

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2008 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

numb

adjective
1. unfeeling, dead, frozen, paralysed, insensitive, deadened, immobilized, torpid, insensible, benumbed His legs felt numb and his toes ached.unfeeling feeling, sensitive, responsive

2. stupefied, deadened, unfeeling, insensible The mother, numb with grief, had trouble speaking.

verb
1. stun, knock out, paralyse, daze, stupefy For a while the shock of his letter numbed her.

2. deaden, freeze, dull, paralyse, immobilize, benumb The cold numbed my fingers.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Rain, rain on my shoulder...

I love rain...

I was once on a plane to Minneapolis, on my way to a wedding, when a valuable lesson was taught to me by a very unlikely person.

You see, it was right after September 11th and everyone's nerves were seriously affected by the horror that had taken place.

Flying was a tense activity, even more so when there were Muslims on the plane.

And lucky as I always am, I sat next to one.

I immediately started feeling anxious.

Prayer was the first thing on my mind.

I tried hard not to move, or stare at him, but, after 15 minutes I just had to take a peek.

He was quiet and had a peaceful look on his face - happy, I should say.

He held a beautiful red and gold book on his hands and I couldn't help but stare at it.

I love books too, you see.

The book was so gorgeous I kept on looking at it, curious to know what it was.

Five minutes later, I just couldn't HELP starting a conversation with him about the whimsical book: "Your book is just about the most beautiful I have ever seen," I remarked.

"It's the Qur'an," he said. "Have you heard of it?"

"Yes I have," said I.

"Don't you just love rain?" he asked, looking out the wet window.

"Not really," I replied.

"This very book says rain is life - that Allah opens the doors of heaven and pours it down to give life. We should never complain about the rain, " he said.

"We send down pure water from the sky. That with it We may give life to a dead land, and slake the thirst of things We have created,- cattle and men in great numbers," he quoted Surat al-Furqan, 48- 49, and winked smilingly at me.

"True," I said, thinking deeply about the beauty and truth of what he had said.

As much as I don't believe the same as he does, being a Christian, that conversation touched me in so many levels.

It made me think about how ungreatful a person I am, and of how I take things for granted.

It made me think of his love and dedication to his faith, and made me feel embarassed about not following mine so fervently.

That man made me see one of God's creation's in a different way, and be thankful for it.

It showed me that the God I believe blesses me in so many little ways, everyday, showing me love, and I am too blind to see it.

To that day, I wasn't so keen on rain, but now I love it, really.

It makes me feel happy and blessed.

I counter-quote my friend with a passage from the book I believe in:

Ezekiel 34:26-27 "And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing. And the tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase, and they shall be safe in their land, and shall know that I am the LORD, when I have broken the bands of their yoke, and delivered them out of the hand of those that served themselves of them."

Praise God for rain!

Keep it coming, Lord!