Listen. To. Your. Body.

Repeat after me:

LISTEN.
TO.
YOUR.
BODY.

Our bodies don’t come with user’s manuals like vehicles do. Just like my vehicle, I ignore the check engine light until things go into crisis mode. I’ve gotten better with age, knowing that there’s maintenance associated with both my vehicle and my body – but it seems that I’m treating my vehicle better most days (except it doesn’t get bathed nearly as much as I do, which the general public should be thankful for).

Rather than turning to WebMD to address your symptoms, let’s all make a commitment to utilize our primary care providers and if necessary the local emergency room. WebMD will have you making your funeral arrangements if you spend too much time trying to self diagnose what error code your body is throwing.

Slight pain in your chest? Contact your doctor. Unexplained nausea for prolonged amounts of time? Contact your doctor. Urine smells like it could be flammable? Contact your doctor. I could list a million examples, each one getting more and more descriptive and disgusting but I think my point is clear. Your body throws error codes frequently but we just ignore them and press on with daily life full of work, kids, home life, social life, and everything else.

Contrary to belief, water and ibuprofen can’t fix everything.

…But I’m still a firm believer in Dawn dish soap and duct tape. Just usually not to fix health issues.

PS. When is the last time you checked your blood pressure?

A photo from the time I ignored my body in 2021 and ended up spending three days of my summer locked up at the hospital because I ignored the fact that I had an infection that put my life at risk. Some lessons were learned: Hospital food has gotten better over the years, bring your favorite blanket if you can, fuzzy socks are a must, and if you cannot get out of your bed – mouthwash and deodorant are your BFF. I was sick enough to hate everything but not sick enough to want to slouch on my hygiene.