The past few weeks we've talked a lot about our bodies - about the problem of thinking we have "problem areas, " about how our body fights for us, about how we're more than a body to be looked at, and how we blame weight for things it's not responsible for.
When it comes to our body, if we want peace and serenity, we'd do well to live by three familiar, simple, and potent words: Let it be.
I don't mean we ought to ignore our body. It deserves much better than that.
But can we stop with the incessant analyzing, critiquing, and criticizing of it? Can we stop telling it what it can and can't eat and just listen to what it tells us it needs? Can we let up on trying to force it, through diet, exercise, or surgeries and procedures, into the shape we want it to be?
Can we just lovingly feed it, move it, rest it, and care for it then let it take its natural shape?
Enough is enough, already.
Think of all your body does for you on the daily. To name just a VERY FEW of the most basic things:
- it takes in air and processes it a way that keeps you alive,
- it takes whatever quality or amount of food you feed it and breaks it down and uses it in the most effective way possible to keep you functioning,
- it does all it can to keep the helpful stuff we take in and flush out or fight the unhelpful stuff,
- it gets you where you want to go (even if it requires some a assistance from a wheelchair or other apparatus),
- it's even designed to create another human, for goodness sake.
Your body is nothing short of miraculous!
Let me tell you about three friends of mine. Their names are made up, but their stories aren't.
Sandy has struggled with her weight for a long time. It's very hard for her to gain weight and keep it on. Her low body weight causes health issues and is a real concern. Even with her weight challenges, her heart keeps pumping, her bones support her, her muscles move her around, and so much more. Every second of the day her body works hard for her.
Tammy was in a serious horseback riding incident over a year ago. She had surgeries to reconstruct parts of her body. She's held together by metal pieces, pins, and screws. Her body worked hard to heal, but had an allergic reaction to the metal. After a long, only partial recovery, she now faces another round of surgeries to undo and redo what was done earlier.
Through both rounds of surgeries, every second of the day her body works hard for her.
Theresa has multiple sclerosis. Recently she ended up in the hospital again after an especially frightening incident when suddenly she couldn't breathe and lost consciousness. She was literally at death's door. Despite all the challenges it has, her body fought its way back from the brink of death so successfully that after only a few days in the hospital, she's back home now. Through all of this, every second of the day her body worked - and keeps working - hard for her.
Do you see the pattern?
These women have far from ideal circumstances in their bodies. But even while they struggle monumentally with major health issues and traumatic injury, the way their bodies continue to fight and function is stunningly miraculous!
What about those of us without such dramatic situations? Can we learn to look beyond our body's shape or size and appreciate the millions of things it does every second of the day? Can we tune out the absurd voices telling us our appearance is the most (or at least one of the most) important thing(s) about us long enough to realize the real beauty of what our body is and what it does?
Can we just lovingly feed it, move it, rest it, and let it be?