For many years, I have pushed my body beyond its limits. I would work for many hours, barely sleep, overexercise (or sometimes not exercise at all,) I would barely eat or drink – I didn’t treat my body right. So, after a while of putting up with this behavior, my body decided it had had enough. One morning, I woke up with excruciating pain in my back. I could barely move, and it even hurt when I took a deep breath. It was so painful and scary, and I just prayed that it would go away.

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The day before, I was about to head out for a hike with a good friend of mine when I suddenly felt my back was hurting. At the time, I didn’t pay much attention to it. Instead, I chose to go on the hike with my friend. We walked for about three and a half hours, during which my back continued to hurt. However, I choose to ignore and overlook it. I carried on, pushing my body further and further past its limits.

So, I guess I shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was when I woke up with a sore back that morning. I was so used to doing whatever I wanted and felt like, without facing the consequences, until it finally hit me in the face (or back, to be exact.) I didn’t listen to my body when it warned me that I had to slow down. My body was tired, worn out, and rightfully so by how I was treating it. Our body knows its limits and, so, it can warn us when pushed beyond them. When our body tries to tell us something, tries to warn us, we have to listen. Otherwise, it would get even worse. You have to prioritize your body. You have only one body, and you have to treat it right.