As I sit here at work in Day Five of my back feeling like it’s been run over by a large pancake pressing object, I wonder: why is it that we push ourselves to the very limit? Why do we force ourselves to go to work or class when we are hurt or sick, pushing our bodies until we can barely go anymore? (As I type this my left arm feels like it’s on fire, with pins and needles too!) I think we can all relate to this; I think we’ve all known some kind of severe physical pain, even as we continue to struggle through our days.

Our bodies need rest when we are hurt. Realistically, I should be laying in bed or propped up in my grandfather’s recliner so that my back can heal. Still, our society seems to have this mindset now that we have to keep going. Mike has said to me, when I told him my back hurt, that at least I could still function. I wonder if I should be functioning. I wonder if we all should stop being so harsh on ourselves. There have been days when I was terribly sick with whatever and still dragged my sorry ass into work. Would I have gotten better sooner if I had just stayed home and rested in the first place?

I know I’m not the only one. Sandy has, on several occasions, done the same. My father, whenever his back goes out, will usually force himself to keep on working. Last winter, my grandmother’s back went out and she still did her craft fairs, pushing herself to finish the various things she made to sell. Making money has become a beat so strong in our brains that we have become masochists to ourselves, starving our bodies of the rest we need and beating ourselves up to make that dollar. We are a working force, but we are far from being machines. What will it take for us to realize that sometimes we need that extra day of rest, no matter how much we lose off our paychecks?