My body is sometimes smarter than my brain

Ever since school (finally) ended, I have been running myself ragged. Dealing with way too many responsibilities, some of them not mine. Taking on way too much. Not sleeping. Not taking care of myself. In essence, forgetting that it's summer and that this is supposed to be my "down time", or at the very least my less hectic time.

Last week apparently was too much. I came home on Friday, went for a walk (just for an hour, at what was for me a very leisurely pace), and got completely wiped out, just from the walk. I spent Friday night parked on the couch, too exhausted to move, think, or cook. And on Saturday, I woke up sick as a dog, and again spent the entire day on the couch.*

Why is it that I don't cut myself any slack until I'm forced to do so? If I had listened to my body earlier--if I had paid attention to the mental and physical exhaustion that had become so pervasive--I know that I would have avoided getting sick.

Lesson learned, hopefully.

* luckily, the day of rest helped; I woke up feeling just fine today.