Healing the Mindy, Body and Spirit: Part 3, The Body

You were born with this body, it is up to you to feed, cleanse and maintain it. Through the years your body has gone through changes; pregnancies, operations, and countless scrapes and cuts, acknowledge what your body has gone through and let your body heal from those changes.
For people with agonizing pain, it is very hard for them to get out of bed, to be able to get dressed or the simple act of breathing. Your body contains about 37 trillion cells in it. Sometimes the bad cells attack the good cells. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how nutritious you eat or how much exercise you do, the body does things on its own. Sometimes your body endures changes, some externally while others are internal. Any drug you take can have a profound effect on your internal organs. Sometimes we are so concerned about our outside physical appearance that we forget about how vital our internal organs are.
Your body is your temple. When our body goes through any changes, it affects our mind and our spirit. They are all three connected. It is up to you to choose between being miserable and being happy in your physical body. Your attitude is everything!
Any change to the physical body affects how you feel about yourself. Positive changes, such as weight loss, help build your self-esteem whereas the loss of something from your physical self or a medical condition may cause your self-esteem to suffer until you become comfortable with your new physical body.
For me, chemotherapy has left my legs in terrible shape. Walking, running, swimming, all the things that I took for granted, are now a chore. Trust me when I say that it does play on your mind. Every day you wake up and you want to do so much, but the sad reality is that you can only do what your body will let you do. Although you are continuously testing those limitations, some days you may have great success while other days you gain no ground. The pain in your body hurts and that can mentally wear you down. The pain will test you. When the nerve endings, muscles and whatever else is throbbing in pain, it is very hard to focus, which is when you need to stay focused the most. The Body, Mind and Spirit are all connected. Sometimes the awareness of the pain makes us feel more alive and we draw more determination from it or it makes us live a more meaningfully life with a new profound awareness of what life is really all about.
You have to love the body that you have, you have to be happy with the body that you have, you have to appreciate the body that you have and most importantly, you have to respect the body that you have. If you are not happy with the body that you have, only you can change it. Your physical self is a part of you, but it is not all of you!
Your body is more than a number, its functions are limitless. You will never treasure your body more until you miss some of the things that you use to be able to do, I pray you will never find out that way. Be comfortable in your own skin. Nobody knows you better than you. Don’t compare your body to anybody else. Your body is unique to you. Don’t try to be a size 3 just to be. In the same respect, don’t put extra pressure on your heart, lungs and knees to help carry you around either. Find your healthy weight from the doctor and strive to stay at the weight.
At the end of the day, your body gets tired. Respect your body by maintaining a healthy diet, exercise and get plenty of rest. You only have one body, take care of it. Appreciate what you feel might be flaws, they are not, your body is your body with all of its perfections and imperfections, embrace them all.