What if being ill isn’t an interruption - but a message?

What if your body stopping you isn’t bad timing - but accurate timing?I’ve been ill for two weeks, and if I’m honest, I’ve felt slightly offended by it. Like my body has betrayed me. I don’t have time for this. People are relying on me. So I do what many of us do - I try to keep going from under the duvet, still managing, still thinking, still holding everything together.But lying there, I realised something uncomfortable. It’s not that I haven’t been looking after myself - I have. It’s that I haven’t been fully adding up what I’ve been carrying. Grief, change, pressure. The weight of it all.And illness is where that catches up with us. Not random. Not inconvenient. Just cumulative.We’re so used to overriding ourselves. Especially as parents. Even when we’re ill, we’re still on duty. Still tracking everyone else. But what if we got a little more interested instead of just irritated?What was I holding before this? What did I not quite acknowledge? Where was I pushing through?Illness can be a kind of enforced honesty. And we don’t have to like it to learn from it.Because if we listen - even a little - we might catch ourselves earlier next time. Slow down sooner. Rest before collapse.And I think that’s the bit I keep coming back to. Not perfect self-care. Not another thing to get right. Just paying attention. To ourselves as well as everyone else.Thank you for pausing with me. Take care. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit kimmccabe.substack.com/subscribe