A Cooperative Design

Categories: Blog, Pressing RESET, Body Care, Self Care, Longevity Nov 27, 2022

Your body is made to last you a lifetime. Well, no matter how you look at it, your body will last your lifetime, but it is made to be healthy throughout your lifetime. It has a design to run well, feel good, be strong, repair its structure, and maintain, even improve, its health. Your body is literally designed to feel good and be useful, always.

That’s its design. 

But it’s a cooperative design. 

How your body runs largely depends on how you treat it. Sadly, many people take much greater care of their pets, their jobs, their homes, and their cars than they do their bodies. They ensure their pets are well fed, loved, and provided for, their responsibilities at work are being attended to, and their homes and cars are clean and in good working repair. Yet, with arguably their most precious and prized possession, they neglect the care of their bodies. 

It’s not on purpose. 

No one intentionally sets out to neglect their body; I don’t think. It’s just that when it comes to self-care, our bodies often slip through our awareness. Or, our bodies slip through our love. 

Think about it. 

Do you love your pet? Do you walk it? Do you pet it? Do you talk lovingly to it? Do you feed it well? 

Do you love your car? Or do you take care of your car? Do you get its oil changed? Do you inflate the tires and inspect the tires? Do you clean it out occasionally? 

Why do you do these things? It’s not responsibility forcing you to act, but rather it’s love. You care. And with that care, more than likely, your pet will live a long, happy life, and your car will last longer than it otherwise would. 

Our bodies are designed to last through a quality lifetime. But we are designed to care for our bodies. We need to pay attention to them. We need to be aware of them. And we need to love them. 

This means we need to move them regularly because they are designed to move. It means we need to feed them with nutrient-dense, quality foods because they are designed by nature to build and repair themselves from the supply of nature. We were never meant to eat sugary science from a box or bottle. Loving our bodies also means we need to rest them, to let them relax from stress and sleep from work, play, and living. This means unplugging from the world, the news, the devices, the screens, the worries, and the fears. 

Good movement. Good food. Good rest. This is how we love our bodies. 

Oh, and good friends. Our bodies, as well as our souls, are made for connection and relationship. One of the best ways to love ourselves and care for our bodies is to pour our love into another person or even a pet. This is why pet owners tend to live longer than non-pet owners. To be clear, I'm not talking about sacrificing yourself or neglecting yourself for another person or pet. I'm talking about loving another person or pet while still respecting yourself. The point is, loving others, and caring for others, is actually self-care, too.

And if we can be aware of our bodies and their needs, move them, feed them well, allow them to recover, and invest our love in others, our bodies will take amazing care of us. They will provide us with an immensely rich life of good health, emotions, adventures, and memories - they will last us a lifetime worth living. 

Don’t neglect your body. Pay attention to it. Be aware of it. Love it. It’s a cooperative design, also known as a relationship. 

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