It can be said that you, as a human, are not one organism, but a collection of trillions of tiny organisms (cells) working in harmony. This can be said of any multicellular organism. But whether you imagine yourself as a single animal or an amazingly coordinated bunch of cells, that’s not the whole picture. You’ve no doubt become aware by being sick that other kinds of tiny organisms, like bacteria, like to set up camp in your body.
However, being sick has given these microbiota a bad rap. In fact, most of them contribute to keeping you healthy. They benefit in turn because, after all, you are their shelter. This is a type of symbiotic relationship called mutualism. Other kinds of symbiotic relationships exist, and they can all be found within us. Some of the little guys do no discernable good for our health, but they also don’t cause any sort of sickness. This is known as commensalism. And, as mentioned, some can make us feel really ill. That sort of relationship (if you want to call it that!) is parasitism. You can read more about symbiotic relationships here.
Perhaps the most startling fact about all of this interaction is that there are more of these non-human microorganisms in your body than there are human cells – you’re outnumbered in your own body! According to some sources, your body contains about 10^13 human cells (which translates to 10,000,000,000,000 or ten trillion) versus 10^14 microbial cells (which translates to 100,000,000,000,000 or one hundred trillion). How many microbes is that per human cell? To find that out, we’ll need to divide 10^14 by 10^13, which comes out to 10/1 or 10. For brushing up on dividing numbers that are raised to powers, check out this tutorial of ours. This means it’s a 10 to 1 ratio of little guys to little parts of you.
So, your body is like a hotel, with the staff making accomodations for the far more numerous guests. Also just like a hotel, most guests are beneficial – they pay their fees, so business can keep running. Some guests leave a messy room, steal things, or skip out on charges, but the vast majority are needed and wanted. Try and appreciate the guests of your hotel 
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