Take Care of Yourself II

Take Care of Yourself II

Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever; and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow.

                        Saint Augustine

Most of us take good care of our bodies. We work out regularly, choose healthy food and try to get our 6-8 hours of sleep per night.  We do our best to create the conditions for growing old in a healthy state.

Do we give the same attention to our souls? Often an honest answer is no. We run through life at high speed and when we have a moment of rest, the “soul food” we take in is not really food for our souls. 

Saint Augustine reminds us that we need to take care of our souls as if there were no tomorrow. I think he means that we should do the best of our (inner) life so that when we take our last breath we have no regrets. The end can come anytime.

How do we take care of our souls? By listening to our hearts more than to our heads, by taking time to meditate or just be still in the here and now. By being grateful and enjoying what we have instead of always wanting life to be different. And, most important of all, by being kind; kind to those around us and kind to ourselves. A tender heart is a perfect home for your soul.