The Body

Every once in awhile I realize how amazing our bodies are. Thing are always happening inside, things we aren't even aware of, things that enable us to live and breathe. It's amazing to me the thing we do to fuck up the body. I have never understood people who abuse their bodies by smoking or drinking to excess--and I'm married to a smoker. I know that I am guilty of using my body as a trash can for food. I am aware of this but operate out of habit much of the time. I love chocolate and cookies and candy. I think that's why I am 10 pounds heavier than I want to be.
We only have one body for this lifetime. It does so much for us. Why do we take it for granted so much of the time? Is it because we think it will always be there for us? That death happens to other people, but not to us? That we can outsmart it?
I credit my yoga practice for making me more aware of my body and the amazing things it does every minute of every day. And yet, I still don't treat it with the respect it deserves. And when I see people who are really in pain or badly out of shape or mistreating themselves, it makes me want to shake them and yell at them to wake up. Perhaps I need to first do that to myself.