“The body is the first student of the soul.”
Henry David Thoreau, via MoveMe Quotes
…And the ego is what intercepts the soul’s communication to the body.
If we don’t learn how to befriend the ego—it will always be our enemy.
What makes the ego our enemy is its relentless desire to choose immediate over delayed gratification. The ego wants comfort now. It wants pleasure now. It cares nothing of later.
And it is in this one main desire—to seek immediate pleasure and avoid immediate pain—that our body suffers. Because what’s generally good for us is what involves delayed over immediate gratification.
If we want our body to succeed—the soul’s first student—we need not underestimate the ego and its deceptive, cunning powers. We need to come prepared. Like a parent ready to confront a moody toddler that’s about to choose violence.
We need to keep our beliefs clear; our boundaries enforced; our strategies at the forefront of our mind; our patience overflowing; and our love (not our tolerance) unconditional.
We have to find easy (easier) ways to do the hard things now, so that we can achieve the later outcome of peak overall health that each of our souls want us so badly to achieve.
For more thoughts on the ego, you can browse my collection of 45+ quotes & resources here.