“Your body is a temple.”
Whichever way you’ve heard it or however it was phrased, most people are familiar with the term. It was a phrase I first heard when I was 12. Treating your body like a temple, whatever that meant, was apparently very important. It was the understanding that you must close it off to any visitors or else your temple crumbles to unwanted ashes. That marking it in any way vandalizes yourself and dignity.
That was what I was led to believe. It was the concept that if you chose what do for your own body, your temple was close to nothing. Less than nothing. Cheap and disgusting.
Let me rephrase the saying, your body is a temple but you can grant access to whoever you choose. We were taught about how others viewed our temples and the definition of what it means to be in charge of it. How they viewed themselves to control our own bodies. Your body is a blessing among others so treat it with the upmost care, but do not let them tell you how to care for it. No one knows your temple better than you; the idea of teaching young impressionable children that if they deface their temples, they’re tainted is wrong. It only teaches them that they are unworthy of anything decent because of how they chose to treat themselves.
The idea allows young, impressionable people to feel like the property of others. It teaches people to care for themselves for the benefit of others, not for themselves. It implies that although you may be happy with the way you have been treating yourself, it doesn’t matter because someone else might deem it unfit. It is toxic to believe that we do not end up claiming our own bodies and that itself diminishes one’s confidence and self esteem. We are taught that loving yourself is irrelevant compared to the way other people percieve you.
In the end, all we are left with is the idea of ourselves. And, nothing compares to being content in your own skin, so it is time to stop relying on other approval and taking care of yourselves for them. We must teach young boys and girls to be more comfortable in their own skin, that the insults of others defile it more than they ever could. You are not cheap. You are not disgusting. Don’t let anyone dictate on how you treat yourself- you are a human being, an individual living a unique life, so do things for you. Unapologetically. You are a temple that chooses how to be decorated. Find your own path and sense of self love.
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