Day 339: On Appreciating Your Body
When all is said and done, the most important thing is to respect and appreciate the body you have. It’s great to strive for physical perfection, but the journey matters more than the destination.
If you have a car, you probably regularly take it to the carwash. You drive it carefully in order not to scratch it or ding it. You respect it and appreciate it because it’s your
vehicle.
Sadly, while most people take great pains to keep their cars pristine, they don’t think about their bodies in the same way. They fail to notice that while a car is replaceable, their body is the only body they’re ever going to get.
If you’re constantly failing to introduce healthy habits, think of it as an expression of respect toward your body. I know, it sounds cheesy, but ultimately many people fail to care for their bodies because they never adopt a good, empowering metaphor to help them in their efforts.
Make exercise primarily about self-respect and appreciation for your body, and not an obsession to build a perfect body (which often leads to so much pressure that people completely give up). It doesn’t matter if you’re obese, if you can’t run for more than a minute, or if you can’t perform a single push-up. What matters right here and
right now is to learn to start caring for your body in the same way as you care for your other prized possessions.
Once healthy living becomes a habit (just like taking your car to the carwash or cleaning your house), then you can set more specific fitness goals to further strengthen your body. For now, your only preoccupation should be to change your actions so that they manifest your respect toward the only body you have.