My body has been asking for help more politely than I deserve

Dear Delyara, That’s what I keep thinking lately. My body has not betrayed me. It has tried to warn me, repeatedly, in manageable ways. Fatigue. Tension. Pain. Restlessness. Sleep that doesn’t restore me. A nervous system that no longer hides how strained it feels. And still I have treated those things like inconveniences instead of communication. I think a lot of us do that because life rewards people who push through. Nobody hands out prizes for noticing early. Nobody applauds the person who cancels plans because they know they are not okay. But I’m beginning to believe that paying attention sooner is a kind of intelligence I’ve been underrating. I don’t want to be the person who only listens to herself once the damage becomes obvious.