Reader Questions: Why Bother Taking Care of Our Bodies?

By Nancy Rynes, author of Awakenings from the Light

A reader asks: If we're eternal, spiritual beings, why should we bother to take care of our human bodies? It seems that to a spiritual being, a body would be unimportant.

Wow, what a super question.

Yes, I agree that we're spiritual beings but in my book Awakenings from the Light, I write about the importance of this physical life, and of the physical realm as a whole, so I won't dive too deeply into that here. But I do want take you on a fun journey of the imagination so that you'll understand why I feel making the best of this physical life is so important.

Imagine for a moment that you're a professional race car driver. It can be Formula On1 or NASCAR, it doesn't matter.



You're at the track, all suited up and putting your helmet on, ready to climb into your car. This is the biggest race of your life...you can win bigger in this race than in all of your prior races combined! There is a little flutter of nervousness in the pit of your stomach and if you're honest, you're a tad bit intimidated by the high caliber of the other drivers and their cars. 

You suspect it won't be an easy race, but you know it will be an amazing experience and you'll learn more in the next few hours than you ever thought possible.

You slip into the driver's seat and buckle into your safety harness. You start the engine and as it fires up, you notice it's not running very well! It sounds like something is wrong with one of the cylinders.

The pit crew just shrug their shoulders and walk off. You signal to the Crew Chief who calls you on your headset and tells you that the crew didn't think it was important to fix the engine, and just to head to the race.

You know the car won't perform well running as it does, but you head out to the race anyway, hoping against hope something will magically fix the car's engine.

It doesn't.

While you're just a few laps into the race, one of the tires starts making noise and blows apart at the same time the engine starts smoking! You're lucky -- you keep control of the car while you limp into the pit. Again your crew chief talks to you over the headset and tells you that the pit crew didn't think it was important to keep the tires maintained.

The crew quickly puts new tires on the vehicle and you head out to finish the race as best as you can with a smoking engine, but you've lost a lot of time and may not have as positive an outcome as you had hoped.



We know this would never happen in a real race, but it's a good way to think about the importance of maintaining our bodies as best as we can.

When those race car drivers slip into the cockpits of such highly-tuned machines, they know that, while they are separate from the cars, they rely on the cars in order to achieve their goal: a win. Without a well-maintained car, the race may not be a very good experience for the driver and the entire crew.

Think of your human body right now being like that race car, with your soul as the driver. In order to get the most out of your experience here on Earth, it's important to keep your "machine" (your body) running as best as you can.

That doesn't mean your body has to be super-athletic or the epitome of earthly good-looks. You don't have to be twig-thin or as bulky as Hercules. What it does mean is that it's important to do your best at maintaining your health in order to give yourself the best opportunity to experience or achieve your soul's purpose.

As always, simply do your best.

Your body is different from anyone else's, so this journey of self-care will be unique to you. You may have already been on this journey for years and are reaping the benefits, or perhaps you're just starting out. We go through ups and downs in life, and some times in our lives our bodies are functioning better than others. That's what self-care is all about: doing the best you can with what you have, right now.

Over the next few months I'll be publishing a mini-series of blog articles on self-care. Both experienced and novice journeyers are welcome.

Later this month, I'll have a guest article from a beautiful lady whose specialty is helping people achieve their soul's purpose. She will give us a primer in self-care.

Blessings,

Nancy

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Bio: Nancy Rynes is a speaker, artist, and author of "Awakenings from the Light" (available from Amazon.com). Nancy's books and workshops teach you how to bring a little bit of Heaven to your life on Earth. She divides her time between Seattle, Washington and Tucson, AZ. Check out her website at NancyRynes.com 

Copyright © 2018-2019 Nancy Rynes, All rights reserved.