“Listen to your body.”
The old saying goes: “Mind over matter.” And while the expression is designed to challenge and motivate us, sometimes, matter needs to be given some precedence. It’s easy to get caught up in our lives; our minds are offered such a vast diversity of stimuli that keeps us occupied constantly. And as a result of all these distractions, we can sometimes forget how hard we’re pushing ourselves, and ignore all the usually obvious signs until its too late and we either burn out or get sick.
Work is work, and life is life, and sometimes we have to push ourselves to ensure our responsibilities are not neglected. But prioritize that over health long enough, and you won’t be able to meet your responsibilities anyway when illness or burnout catches up with you.
Learn to trust your body, learn to understand it, learn its habits, and rhythms. Hungry? EAT. Sleepy? TAKE A NAP. Sick? REST! Our biology still hasn’t caught up entirely with our societal habits and its very easy to neglect our bodies as a result. But it isn’t too hard to listen up once in a while to ensure we keep our bodies as healthy as we hope our minds are.
If you’re sick, give your body some rest. There are very few situations where work CANNOT wait a few hours, or days while you heal. If you’ve started exercising and your body (not mind) is resisting, or in significant pain, maybe you need to start a little slower so you don’t hurt yourself. Attend to your body’s needs before those needs become so drastic that they are forced upon you.
