Almost any endeavor or engagement that we have with someone or something can be considered a relationship! This makes perfect sense when we think of spouses or significant others, children, co-workers, friends etc. In each case, these relationships have a future point or end goal. For a spouse, your direction may be to start a family, purchase a home, or simply to age gracefully together with the person you chose to have a partnership with. A relationship with your children is different in nature, but the fact still remains, this relationship will also take you somewhere. Children are often mirrors, and reflect back to us errors in our parenting style or things that we have done great. That may cause you to do some serious soul searching as you reflect on how you were parented. It may steer your relationship with your kids into what you think is a “better” relationship than you may have had with your parents. We can also learn a lot from children, like being fully present. I envy the sprit of children and how they let all their worries go and forget about life’s troubles. From personal experience, the parent-child relationship teaches us what it means to love unconditionally. And, if we are up to learning the lesson of this higher cosmic calling.
This brings me to the most important relationship we should have, and that is the relationship with yourself. There is so much to gain by looking inward and truly valuing ourselves. The human body is without question, the most complex and miraculous piece of technology you will ever own! This is regardless of your race, color, socioeconomic status, religion, etc. You are special and its important to realize the miracle you are. Some ancient texts describe your body as a temple, others describe your body as a microcosm and miniature representation of the universe itself. Full of wonder and mysteries waiting to be unfolded into your life’s story. Once you understand this, you begin to value the relationship with your self, and your body will respond in ways that many may call “miraculous.” In our society, we are taught to value almost everything outside of ourselves. Such as, fancy cars, designer shoes and clothing, having the biggest home or even looking the best. While there is nothing inherently wrong with the desire for any of these things, but, you can end up in error without valuing yourself over the desire for “material possessions.” In the pursuit of things, we often trash that which sustains us….our bodies. We give ourselves so little value that we go to great lengths for things that depreciate in value and only remain on the Earth’s plane when we transition to the afterlife. We are wiling to cause bodily harm to others (commit murder in some cases) for the opportunity to have material objects. This happens on an individual level all the way to national level when countries go to war for imaginary borders and the right to certain resources. This further devalues the individual lives as the governments send our young children to fight wars for resources that oftentimes aren’t as scarce as we have been lead to believe. We often won’t compromise and will pay ridiculous prices to wear the “name brand” clothing, but won’t spend the extra money where it really counts-in the foods we eat! We value items more than ourselves knowing that the higher quality foods over time will lead to a higher quality of life as we age and build habits of prioritizing ourselves. This is Madness! Nevertheless, our bodies work hard for us no matter how we neglect them and abuse them….our heart, lungs, nervous system continue to do their job so that you can sustain your existence here….until they can’t any longer!
What kind of acts of self-love do you show yourself? Where do you want the relationship with yourself to take you? Will your body be able to move well at the age of 50, 60 or 70? Do you TRULY love yourself enough to be open and honest about how your habits of today affect you long term? What is your personal relationship with food and working out? The amounts of music and media you consume? Like it or not, each one of these, and-more, have profound effects on your ability to live your life to the fullest!
To BE healthy, you have to start at the beginning. Putting yourself first, making self-love a priority and creating positive daily rituals. Take the first step towards living a life free of disease, enjoying life for years to come and respecting the temple you were given!