Consider this: Have you ever longed for the body you had when you were eleven? How about when you were three? Do you ever wish you were in your eighty-seven-year-old body today? The answer to these questions is most likely no. But truly, the longing to return to your sixteen-year-old body is equally as bemusing as longing for your six-year-old body. They were both good bodies for a moment in time, but you as a human being are constantly changing.
Your body has endured much since your teenage years, and deserves your kindness, not your resentment, for the things she has overcome, survived, and accomplished. As a maturing person of depth and wisdom, you have much to offer those around you, and your body is your tangible connection to those who are seeking refuge and comfort. Together, the wisdom of your aging heart and the softness of your aging body welcome others to be nurtured.
—from Luminous: A 30-Day Journal for Accepting Your Body, Honoring Your Soul, and Finding Your Joy
by Shannon K. Evans
//Franciscan Media//