6/365: My body vs. my pets

While I was working out this morning, this thought from a couple of entries ago kept coming to mind:

"I've had pets all my life, and most I've been able to care for well - none of my dogs have ever been chunky, much less really fat. Among the childhood pets that I can remember are birds, squirrels, rabbits, gerbils, and now fish. How come I can manage their diets so effectively and yet fail so miserably on my own nutritional needs?"

I started thinking about the differences between my relationship with my body vs. my relationship with my pets. First off, I love my pets unconditionally, in the sense that they're all good little beings under my care. Even the dumbest dog I've ever had, Minnesota Fats (known as "Sota") was really sweet and I took care of him. Unlike my body, I have no memories of my pets ever harming me (well, the squirrel did bite me a couple of times but it was more like little nibbles that hurt too much, rather than breaking-skin, drawing blood bites). No memories of clothes that didn't fit, or boys that didn't invite me out to dance or any other negative associations.

This is happenstance, to some extent, as a childhood dog could have bitten me and forever altered the course of my feelings about them, but that never happened. Quite the contrary, I associate dogs with warmth and safety and unconditional love from them to me (when's the last time your dog didn't let you pet him because your hair wasn't combed the right way or you were in a bad mood about something else - nay, their little souls seem placed on this earth just to love and sometimes protect, even when they're not loved back, unless their breeding practices or training have shaped them otherwise).

So I have no such negative associations with them. Not so with my body. Here are the basic tenets that I figure I start out with my pets:

1. I love them.
2. I am responsible for them.
3. Part of my commitment is learning (talking to my vet, friends and family, online research, personal experience, etc.) what their needs are (nutrition, shots, playtime, training, etc.).
4. I have to make the necessary changes to my life, daily schedule, etc., to take care of them.

I don't know that a single one of these principles applies to how I treat my body. At least, not up until now. But I'm learning - that's the point of this blog, ey?

Wow. Not a single one of these principles applies to how to I treat my body. I treat my dogs, fish, rabbits, whatever, better than my body, this vessel that houses my soul, that allows me to experience the marvels of the world (as well as the pains, of course, but still). Wow.

P.S. The pics here, in case anybody's reading this, are of my current two dogs when they were wee. They are much, much bigger now. May they live long and healthy lives.