When Your Body Says “Stop”! The Lesson I Learned the Hard Way

For years, I convinced myself that I could handle “just one more thing.” One more task, one more responsibility, one more favor for a friend, one more late-night email, one more promise, I couldn’t break. I prided myself on being dependable after my many years of not being a reliable friend.

What I didn’t realize was that while I was busy showing up for everyone else, I had slowly stopped showing up for myself.

I felt the warning signs long before things got bad. A lingering headache here, a body ache there, the kind of fatigue that sleep didn’t seem to fix. But I brushed it off—Of course I’m tired, I have things to do. I ignored the way my energy dipped earlier and earlier in the day. I ignored the tightness in my chest, the heaviness in my arms, the way my mind felt foggy even during conversations.

Still, I told myself, I can push through this.

So I did.

I pushed through because I didn’t want to cancel plans.
I pushed through because I didn’t want to disappoint people.
I pushed through because I thought being exhausted was normal as a wife, mom, with a full-time job and being an entrepreneur.
I pushed through because strength, in my mind, looked like endurance.

But strength isn’t endurance. Not always.
Sometimes strength is stopping!!!!

It all came crashing down on me one morning when I woke up and could barely move. My body felt like it had cement in its veins. My head was pounding so hard I could hear my heartbeat in my ears. Even opening my eyes felt like work. I tried to get up—twice—and each time my body told me absolutely not.

So there I was, forced into stillness. Bedridden for days. The very thing I had tried so hard to avoid: stopping.

And here’s the truth I learned during those days in bed, my world didn’t fall apart. The things I thought had to be done waited. The people I thought would be disappointed understood. Life kept moving, gently, patiently, without demanding that I sacrifice my health to keep up with it.

Meanwhile, my body was doing something far more important: healing.

In those quiet days, curtains closed,  phone on silent, computer hardly touched, I realized just how far I had pushed myself past my limits. Not because others forced me to, but because I didn’t give myself permission to rest.

We don’t honor our bodies enough. We don’t listen when they whisper, so eventually they scream. Mine did, loudly, and I had no choice but to hear it.

Rest is not a weakness.
Rest is not laziness.
Rest is not optional.

Rest is a form of respect for yourself, your health, and your future.

CALL TO ACTION

Practical Steps We Can All Take to Make More Space for REST

1. Listen to our bodies the first time they whisper.
We don’t need to wait for exhaustion to shout. When we feel unusually tired, achy, foggy, or overwhelmed, that’s our cue to pause and check in with ourselves.

2. Set a “rest boundary” and honor it.
We can choose a daily time to stop working, both personally and professionally, no matter what’s unfinished. When we treat this boundary as non-negotiable, we protect ourselves from pushing too far.

3. Cancel or delegate without guilt.
When we’re sick or mentally drained, we deserve permission to step back. Canceling plans or handing off responsibilities isn’t failing—it’s caring for our well-being.

4. Make rest part of our routine not a last resort.
We can build intentional rest into our days so restoration becomes a habit, not something we reach for only when we’re burnt out.