Taking care of the life and body we are given

Sometimes I think I've had a little more than my share of sudden deaths of loved ones (my mom and beloved mentor for two). Yesterday news of another. Each time it makes me think about my life in terms of relationships mostly ..... do my children and grandchildren know how much I love them? Is everything in order in my personal relationships? And - this is very important - am I taking care of my health to the best of my ability? In other words, I am thrown back into a state of reality about taking life for granted. Taking everything for granted actually. It's tough to think about death and dying sometimes so I take these sudden deaths as messengers of a sort. They make me take pause and wonder about changes that I may need to make in my life, relationships, work, experiencing joy, etc. But one thing always stands out: the state of my health and the health of my loved ones. This body is the temple of my soul, of who I am in this world. If the car analogy works better for some - that is, you don't your car run without oil, right? You fix the dents and cracks in the windshield. Then why don't we do the same for our temple? Don't have time ..... costs too much .... it's only a temporary pain or symptom ... it'll go away ..... we have a million reasons why not to pay attention to our health. Well, today is another day where I will ponder that state of my life as I move through the emotions of another sudden death of someone. My family and I will go over the details, wonder why, complain about the state of health care in what I call "the valley" where my hometown is, etc. etc. I'm going to go now and do something good for my body/health. I hope you can take the time to do the same thing today.