How to Be Your Body's Friend

I had already gone through eight days of fasting when I saw him. I was sitting in my car and noticed a man heading across the parking lot. He wore a fitted hat, gray hoodie, and baggy pants. I watched curiously as he paused to spit in different places on the street. When he walked next to my car, he started to vomit. It was a violent scene but also very controlled. Once he finished hurling in front of the car, he picked himself up and walked away. An onlooker would have been none the wiser as he disappeared into a nearby McDonald's. I watched in disbelief as he calmly entered the fast food store. Throughout the whole ordeal, he never once seemed to panic or call for help. It was as though this occurrence was just like any other day.

I remember saying a prayer for him, asking for health to come back to his body. I imagined how it must have felt to live for days in his shape. To have your body in a state of rejection. One that is no longer serving you because you are not serving it. To have a body that tells you no when you want to say yes. You feel hungry and want to eat, but you're sick and need to heal. Back in my younger days, I didn't realize that these crucial moments were our bodies' way of talking to us. Often nature can teach us this when we take notice. Even animals do not eat when they are sick.

A losing battle

"Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live." ~Jim Rohn

Eating through sickness is like giving the body paperwork when there are file cabinets that still need sorting, providing your body with extra chores on top of all that needs to be done. Your body needs to detox during these times. It wants to clean itself out, but we make it hard by putting more things in. It starts to become a losing battle. Since there is no time to digest it, starts prioritizing the rest. I realized then, we have to work in harmony with the body.

I can remember two distinct times in my life when I was like that man on the street. One time from McDonald's and another night at Popeye's. I remember my Dad and I grabbing some late night chicken and taking it home with us. That night I was vomiting 'til the morning with terrible nightmares. It was one of the worst nights in my memory. I never wanted to feel like that again.

Being a team player

I realize that for some, this is a part of everyday life, just a way of living that becomes so normal to us. We don't strive to work with our bodies. We don't treat ourselves like a VIP or a team player. When we go against what our bodies need, we tend to learn the hard way. It was ironic seeing the unhealthy state of this man on the eighth day of my "no food" journey. I felt great after not eating and had plenty of energy. I realized my own thought process was backwards.

I encourage you to think about your relationship with your body. Have you had to take your body to the hospital? Have you checked your body into an emergency room? Has your body ever rejected you? Can you hear your body speaking? Do you neglect the warnings your body gives you? Think of your body like a personal coach. When you have made several bad plays, it's time for a time out!

"A healthy person has a thousand wishes while a sick person has only one." ~Proverb

A brighter world

What is your number one wish in life? It seems we never miss the water 'til our well runs dry. When you're healthy, you don't worry about not being healthy. You don't think about having headaches. You don't think about an upset stomach. You don't think about sickness. You don't think about all these things when you're healthy. It's when you're unhealthy that you wish it would all go away. That the pain would stop and you could go back to being normal.

Work with your body today. Be your body's friend. Develop a long lasting relationship. Embrace yourself, love yourself, and be kind to the inner you. Self-care and self-love are not selfish at all. You deserve it and the world will be a better place for it. For we can only give what we have already. By loving your body, it loves you back, and the world becomes a much brighter place.

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