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Today's
Meditation:
So many of us treat our bodies as enemies. We
abuse them through neglect, overuse, covering it with
chemicals, filling it with chemicals, and all sorts of
other activities that don't serve at all to prove that our
bodies actually are temples for our souls. This body
is a wonderful gift, and if we abuse it, we're making sure
that it doesn't function properly and therefore we diminish
the quality of our time here on earth.
In addition to being a temple, though, the body generally
gives an accurate reflection of how we treat ourselves as
spiritual beings, too. Do we neglect our bodies, not
giving them enough exercise or healthy foods? Then
there's a very good chance that we neglect our spiritual
side, too. Do we mistreat our bodies by indulging in
harmful chemicals from things like cigarettes and
unhealthy foods? Then guess what? We're
probably mistreating our spiritual selves, too, by
introducing unhealthy thoughts, ideas, and images.
Most people don't tend to think of some of their most
unhealthy habits as even being related to the body.
It's easy to drink four or five sodas a day without even
thinking of the effects of the caffeine and the corn syrup
on the bodies we have. It's easy to eat fattening
foods and highly processed foods and even too much food
without keeping in mind that for every pound of fat we put
on, our hearts have to work that much harder and our
muscles have to compensate to carry around more weight and
our joints are strained and unable to function at optimal
levels.
Taking care of ourselves is a full-time job,
obviously. But just how do we care for
ourselves? Are we fully aware of all that we're
doing-- and not doing-- to make sure that we're giving our
bodies the best of chances to be healthy and
functional? Some people may want subconsciously to
have a body that gives them problems because that gives
them freedom to ignore other deeper, more important
problems, but that really is no way to live. Our
bodies are the temples of our souls, and we really should
treat them with respect, dignity, and care.
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