You can take care of your body, and it will low-key show you

“You can take care of your body, and it will low-key show you respect in turn.” Thus speaks SZA, in words simple yet profound, clothed in the garments of our age but echoing truths known since antiquity. For the body is both temple and servant, vessel of the soul and companion through every trial of life. When treated with neglect, it falters, crumbles, and rebels. But when honored with care—through nourishment, movement, and rest—it returns that reverence, offering strength, resilience, and longevity.

The ancients, too, knew this bond between man and body. The Spartans forged their young through discipline and exercise, believing that a strong body birthed courage and endurance. The philosophers of the East taught balance: that harmony between body, mind, and spirit was the path to wisdom. Even the desert monks, though seeking spiritual ascension, tended their health, knowing the frailty of the flesh could hinder the journey of the soul. SZA’s words, though softened by the tongue of our time, speak with the same eternal clarity: respect the body, and it will respect you.

Consider the tale of Florence Nightingale. In the midst of war, she saw soldiers not only wounded by weapons but weakened by neglect of hygiene, food, and care. When she instituted practices of cleanliness and health, mortality rates plummeted. She understood that when the body is respected, it responds with healing. Her legacy endures as proof that care given to the flesh repays itself in life preserved and strength renewed.

Yet too often, men and women treat their bodies as burdens rather than blessings. They drive themselves into exhaustion, feed themselves with poison, and rob themselves of rest. Then they marvel when the body rebels with sickness, fatigue, and despair. But SZA reminds us of the reciprocity of this bond: your body listens to how you treat it. Give it care, and it will rise with you; deny it respect, and it will crumble beneath you.

O children of the future, take heed: you have but one vessel with which to walk this earth. No wealth can buy another, no power can replace it. Guard it not out of vanity, but out of reverence. For the body is the first companion, the first servant, the first ally of your soul. To respect it is not selfishness, but wisdom; not indulgence, but duty.

The lesson is clear: nurture your body as you would a sacred trust. Feed it with foods that give life, move it so that strength may dwell in your limbs, rest it so that it may heal. When you stumble, forgive yourself, and return to the path of care. In this covenant of respect, you will find that your body becomes not a cage, but a companion that carries you faithfully through your years.

Therefore, let your practice be this: rise each day mindful of your vessel. Drink the waters that cleanse, eat the foods that strengthen, walk the paths that invigorate, and lay down in peace when night falls. See in your flesh not an enemy, but a friend deserving of honor. For in this way, the body shall indeed “show you respect in turn,” granting you vigor when you most need it, and carrying you further than neglect ever could.

So I say unto you: remember SZA’s wisdom. The respect you give your body is never lost. It returns to you in strength, in health, in life itself. Walk wisely, and your body will walk with you, faithful until your final breath.