Step 168: Do not tell other people what to do with their bodies
Today, I was chatting with a friend about a mutual acquaintance whom we both are fond of. This person, who is wonderful and warm and someone I admire a great deal, is also morbidly obese. Worse, she or he eats at a particular fast food restaurant at least five times per week, despite health issues.
Now. I care about this person, and I want them around, happy and healthy, and I wish they didn’t do this. But you know what? That is their body, not mine, and I don’t get to weigh in on what other people do with their bodies unless I am specifically asked my opinion. And that has yet to happen.
Here are some other personal bodily decisions that you don’t need to be offering unsolicited thoughts on:
• Smoking (unless it’s actively happening and hindering you, in which case you need to phrase your request as something that is your problem, not theirs);
• Tattoos and/or piercings;
• How thin someone is;
• Etc.
Just worry about your own body, OK, and let them worry about theirs’.
Note: There is an exception for people you are very close to — think family and VERY close friends. The idea there is that the love and closeness you have gives you a certain stake in what happens to them.
