The Stoics saw the body as something on loan, to be cared for sensibly but not worshipped. Marcus treated his health as a tool for living well, neither neglected nor obsessed over. There's freedom in that middle path. You don't have to chase a perfect body or hate the one you have. You can simply tend it, move it, feed it, rest it, the way you'd care for something useful that you were entrusted with. On days your body feels like a burden, this reframes it: not an enemy to fix, but a companion to look after. Respect asks less of you than punishment, and it lasts far longer.

Inspired by the old idea of virtue as the only good. Written by Ugo Charles.