University of Life

Layer 7 of your identity finally touches on something that is truly you - your body. Learn a few tips to make the most of it in this video. More resources coming soon... You may have noticed that identity 101 began with external aspects of who you are, and is slowly moving toward the internal. It's also moving from the concrete toward the abstract. And from the less important to the more important. Here at level seven, your body, we've finally begun to touch on what is actually you. When you think about it, your body is still just a thing, but it's by far the most important thing you will ever own. It's important because this is the vehicle through which you experienced your entire life. Everything you will ever do, you will do with your body. Everything you ever feel, you will feel through your body. So go ahead and use it! Take good care of it, so it will take good care of you. Do things that not only make you feel good, but that make you feel good about yourself, about who you are. Today in this video I make 3 valuable points about how to use your body to the best advantage. First, train yourself to be more aware of it. Wherever you are right now, take a moment to observe how it feels to be you. Notice your toes, for example. How do they feel.? Wiggle them a little bit, then move on to your feet, ankles, and legs. Did the same process with your fingers and arms, then check your stomach, lungs, heart, throat, and face. What feelings do you notice as you train your focus on them? Hopefully, as you learn to pay more attention to your body, you will feel an increased sense of connection, Satisfaction, and joy., this will help motivate you to get up and move, and feel more alive more often. On the other hand, you may observe unpleasant feelings, too, like stress or sadness. This may prove useful by showing you lessons you need to learn to help you improve other areas of your life. Second, let's examine how you think others perceive and value your body. what's attractive about it? Do you have nice eyes or legs, or a nice voice? Are you strong or fast or coordinated? Do you use your body in ways people appreciate, like helping carry things, or cleaning up after yourself? Or would you rather focus on the negatives, like how you're too curvy, or not curvy enough, or that your curves curve in the wrong direction? If you obsess about your nose, how it's too big or too small, or your toes, how they're too long or crooked, or your knees, how they just aren't they shapely enough, then you need to take responsibility for your thoughts and quit wasting your time and undermining your own life. You're supposed to be on your side. You're supposed to be your own best friend! If you will learn not to care about such things, others won't care either, and if they do, then their shallow opinion isn't worth caring about. Stories: obese women in Topeka with such large personalities, that you forgot about their bodies and just enjoyed being around them. Hispanic friend who you don't think of in racial terms, so it's shocks you when they remind you that they are brown. Older guys on search and rescue who still carry heavy loads up the mountain and keep pace pretty well with the young bucks. Somewhat unattractive faces who marry gorgeous partners because of their very winning personalities. On the flip side, consider the stunningly gorgeous people who are depressed and have no self-esteem because they've learned to place all their value solely on their physical appearance, and that is never enough to truly satisfy. Third, let's discuss your ideal body. If you could have anybody wanted, any size, shape, age, color, what would you be? Once you've decided, ask yourself an even more important question, why? What do you expect that would change about your life? Your answer to that question is today's homework. You can change some things about your body, sure, but for the most part, you're stuck with the body you've got, so stop fretting about it, and get busy living the life you want. If you want to be more attractive, for example, you can eat healthier, exercise more, and develop better sleeping habits or wear more flattering clothes, but you can also accept yourself better, which is one of the most attractive traits in the universe. When you accept yourself completely, it helps people around you to do the same, to accept not only you but themselves more fully, and that's a very pleasant experience. So help them experience that by showing them how. Look, you are who you are. Improve yourself as you wish, but always Accept yourself, completely, absolutely, 100%, beginning right now, no excuses. Then get on with living your best life. What more can you do than that?