Martha Beck: 5 Things to Cross Off Your Bucket List Today

You can make alterations to your body, of course. Lose weight, or gain it; have surgeons perform anything from liposuction to mole removal. Ultimately, you'll still have to face the fact that we each get one body per lifetime. The one I'm in now is mine—its puffy little fingers; its strangely shaped skull; its inexorable mortality—and the one you're in is yours. Vicky spent her final months obsessing about her supposed physical imperfections. It's too late for you or me to do the same.

Instead, put "appreciate my body" on your bucket list. Think of it: You have trillions of intricate cells performing a vast array of functions with phenomenal precision, even if you do nothing but suck up pork rinds. That's a miracle. Right now, take five minutes to admire your body. Try repeating phrases like, "At this moment, I offer no resistance to my body as it is," or "For this one instant, I accept my body completely."

Self-acceptance can help you experience what Dr. Herbert Benson famously called the relaxation response. This is the state in which your body can calm down and heal. The alternative? More boring self-loathing, with its accompanying stress-related illnesses, compulsions, and addictions? We don't have time for that.