The Importance of Keeping a Healthy Body

In several recent essays, I focused on our bodies, how they work and the importance of taking care of them for optimal health. My reason for writing these essays is to share insights I have gained, often from my mistakes, so that more people can live healthier, fuller and more satisfying lives.

I eventually learned that what we believe and our attitudes toward life have a dramatic impact on our mental and physical health. I eagerly embraced this concept to help me heal a lack of abundance, relationships with others, and to create attitudes that support a successful and happy life.

Because I believed my body was one of the things working well in my life back then, I took it for granted. I evidently expected it to continue at peak performance despite how unconscious I was of what my physical self was experiencing. My motto was if it ain’t broke don’t fix it – or even pay attention to it.

I didn’t become aware of the need to focus on my body until I started receiving messages from it that got my undivided attention. Actually, when the messages became stronger and I began to awaken fully to the fact of how vitally I needed a body, I felt a little out of control and somewhat fearful. I began to understand that my body would continue to change over time, and that unless I took back my power and became a caring participant, the changes would probably be faster, more drastic and less desirable.

I also began to realize that most of us share a cavalier attitude toward our bodies. This is why we think nothing of stuffing them with junk food, unresolved emotions, and all sorts of unhealthful substances. We are either bored by or scared of our bodies. Or, we think we’re special because we attend church regularly, are kind to children, old people and animals, or do good work for the world, and therefore we have some kind of special dispensation from Life that protects us. Believe me, we don’t.

I am learning that in order to live and function on the Earth, we need to be aware that there are a lot more skills needed than most of us ever realized. To do more than survive on this planet, it is necessary to learn to control our minds, our emotions, our finances and how to be in relationships with others. Somehow we take for granted the number one priority: the bodies that allow us life. Typically, it isn’t until health challenges arise that we are frightened into learning, even slightly, how our bodies work and what their basic needs are to function properly.

As for myself, I have become actively involved in my health and wellbeing and have totally changed my habit of ignoring and forgetting about my body until something goes wrong, which is the same philosophy many of us use in taking care of our cars.

I can attest to the fact that the longer we wait to become acquainted with and partner with our bodies, the more challenging it may be. Yet I believe the information exists today that would allow us, with forethought, constancy and discipline, to keep our bodies functioning at a desired physical, mental and emotional level all the days of our lives.

Keeping a healthy body is important for all the obvious reasons. It may also allow us to live longer and gain the awareness necessary to master the lessons of life in this realm. The more skilled we become at applying the lessons learned, the more successful we will be in stating our desires and having them manifested surely and swiftly by the omnipresent life force-energy. This would mean that when it is our time to graduate from Earth school, it will be with full honors—magna cum laude.
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Copyright 2008 by Fern Stewart Welch

The author’s book THE HEART KNOWS THE WAY—How to Follow Your Heart to a Conscious Connection with the Divine Spirit Within is available at Amazon.com and other online booksellers, as well as through major bookstores such as Barnes & Noble and Borders.