My body hurts as I write this. My lower back has an ache I can only logically explain by the excessive amount of sitting its been subject to recently. My stomach hurts in another odd way. The way its been hurting lately that tells me its too full, only I haven�t eaten hardly anything. Its confusing to me. I have a feeling that my body is both dying a waking up at the same time. I�ve long since realized that those two actions are one in the same. My throat contracts and fills my eyes with tears that will not spill. There is something quite odd going on inside me right now. I have not choice but to watch where it takes me.

Listen. I want t say something about the human body now. There is something I have been quietly realizing for days. I want to say that the body is beautiful, but its not quite that. Here it is. The human body is real. Every body on this earth is real and alive. And you own one. Every single person alive owns one. I have come to realize that we as a people become attracted to material things. Food. Money. Movies. There are many examples. But for a moment I would ask this. Put down whatever toy you are playing with and look at your body. Feel it. Play with it.

This exercise bears no matter on whether you are fat or thin. Beautiful or terribly horribly ugly. No one really is terribly ugly by the way. There are only those who think they are, and others foolish enough to believe them.

This exercise requires no observations. Feel no need to judge your body. Don�t label certain parts of it as bad or good. The body in itself is not bad or good. It simply exists, which is a fact that far to many people spend their lives pretending is false.

Feel your body. You can either pass your consciousness over yourself, or literally use your hands to do it. Take your time. Don�t shy away from areas that are supposedly bad or forbidden. After all, its only through cultural customs that women are supposed to cover their breasts, an everyone is supposed to cover their genitals. Funny. Even the word can make us cringe.

Stand naked in front of a mirror. This may sound strange to some. Before you hop in the shower on night or morning just pause for a moment to observe yourself. This is your body, much as you may try to deny it or hide it with clothes. Look at it from all angles, and don�t judge. Who was it anyway that said that flat stomachs and large breasts are beautiful, and that nothing else is tolerable. Look at your body as if from the perspective of an alien. Do it everyday. Check in regularly with your body. Pass your consciousness over every part of it. Feel it for what it is and one day it will hit you.

What an amazing thing the human body is. Look at the potential your body has in it. The wonders of the world were all created by the human body. The Buddha was enlightened while sitting in his body. Homan bodies compete in Olympic events. For thousands of years all kinds of beautiful lives have been lived out, all in the human body. And you, my lucky friend, own one. You have a human body to love an cherish. To perform wonderful deeds with. To feel.

This is my call out to the world. I may be acutely aware of my body�s pain at the moment, but I am also aware of its joys. The way my head is resting in the cup of my left hand, the way my right hand works marvellously to pen each word. My toes curled up ender my feet on the floor the way they always do when I write. The gentle wave of my hair cascading down next to the page. The slight push of my stomach against the front of my jeans. My heart pumping gently, the air streaming in and out through my nose. The list goes on forever. Every moment holds the joy the sensation of owning a body can bring. Enjoy it. Let us all put down our toys, our foods, our distractions, and admire the awesome gift that we all have been given. Let us admire our uniqueness. Let us play with the human body, for to do that, truly, is joy.