Body and Soul

Anonymous

In class, we have discussed that the body and the soul are two separate things entirely, and that they only come together on earth, but as our bodies die, our souls will live on. That rationality is better than emotion, and decisions made without rationality aren’t good.

This concept, this idea of a body and a soul as split entities is one that I have been mulling over for a while now as well as the idea of emotions being wrong. I am not sure if the way we talked in class is the way I see it.  Yes, I know that my soul can want and desire more things then my body is willing to give me at times, but it is more than just that and some of the best decisions I have made were purely based on emotion and if I thought though them out to bring them to rationality, I would have not had the same experiences.

I am not pushing making all of your decisions on a whim or that my body and my soul are one, because I know that isn’t true. As my body tires and fatigues, my soul doesn’t. My soul desired more and more. My emotions then tie into this paradox too. I want and desire to be one with my soul and body, make them one in my mind, and do as my soul desires. For now, being the ripe old age of 21, my body and soul are in an agreement. They both want the same things and since my body is able to produce what my soul wants it to, my mind and emotions are happy. I can hike all over the island of Symi after only 5 hours of sleep, I can stay out late after getting lost and having an adventure in Athens, I can jump, run, and play with the best of them because my soul desires it and my body makes it happen.

But when this privilege is no longer mine and my body grows weak and takes precedence over my mind and its emotions, that’s when my soul will separate from my body. They will not enjoy the carefree life that they have now and my mind will not let my soul rule my body. But I see this as a challenge for my mind, to not let it dictate my body and for my body and soul to stay united as long as possible. For my soul will have a continuous desire for more, and even as my body ages, I will still crave to further explore. To succeed at my challenge I must satisfy it all, my mind and its emotions, body, and soul. Hard challenge, but the pay off is great, while I am here I want to make my stay with my body and soul as productive as possible, then when they separate and my body turns back to dust, my soul will live on, it will forever be satisfied with the time it spent here with my body and my decisions based either on rationality or emotion will be ones that have satisfied them both, body and soul combined.