Over the years, I’ve shared many stories about the mind-body connection, stress, and the importance of listening to what our bodies are trying to tell us.
After reading one of my recent newsletters, Belinda reached out and shared something powerful: a realization that most people think the warning labels don’t apply to them until life forces them to pay attention.
Her reflection moved me deeply, and she felt compelled to share her story with all of you. What she wrote is honest, courageous, and an important reminder for anyone who has been postponing their own well-being. I’m honored to share her words with you today.
The Warning Labels We Pretend Don’t Apply to Us
By Belinda Egan
Most of us spend years moving through life assuming we’re different, immune somehow, from the very patterns we know aren’t healthy.
We see the warning labels on our habits and quietly think, “I’ll be fine.”
We stay up too late.
We drink to take the edge off.
We live on convenience instead of nourishment.
We sit more than we move.
We carry stress like it’s normal.
We tell ourselves we “don’t have time” or “don’t have the money” for wellness.
And yet, if we really pause even for a moment, we know the truth:
Our bodies are speaking.
We just aren’t listening.
I did this for years.
I pushed through.
I rationalized every unhealthy habit with “just for now” or “I’ll slow down when life eases up.”
But life never eased up because I never did.
Then, on May 10, 2024, everything changed in a single sentence:
“You have triple-negative breast cancer.”
That moment is one I’ll never forget because it cracked something open in me.
Not fear.
Not anger.
But clarity.
Clarity that my body had been whispering for years.
Clarity that I had overridden its messages with busyness, productivity, and responsibility.
Clarity that wellness isn’t a luxury, it’s a lifeline.
I want to be very clear:
Nothing I could have done would have guaranteed a different diagnosis.
Life doesn’t work that way.
Health isn’t a straight line, and illness isn’t a punishment.
But what I know now, deep in my bones, is this:
My body was trying to get my attention long before cancer did.
The exhaustion.
The inflammation.
The tension I treated as “normal.”
The stress I believed I could outrun.
Those were warning labels, and I ignored them because I thought I was the exception.
I wasn’t.
None of us is.
This is why the work Teresa does matters in ways most people don’t fully understand until they’re forced into a moment of reckoning.
Her work doesn’t promise to prevent illness.
It promises to help you reconnect with yourself long before your body is forced to intervene.
It helps you hear the messages you’ve been overriding.
It helps you soften.
It helps you breathe.
It helps you come home to yourself in a world that constantly pulls you away.
Wellness isn’t about achieving perfect health.
It’s about honoring the body you live in today.
It’s about choosing presence over autopilot.
It’s about recognizing that balance isn’t something you stumble into; it’s something you cultivate.
And here’s the reflection that sits deepest with me:
You will always invest in your health.
You either invest in it as maintenance
Or you invest in it as a recovery.
One is intentional.
The other is urgent.
If you’re reading this and feeling the tug of recognition, the “I’ve been ignoring that too”…
I want to encourage you, gently and wholeheartedly:
Don’t wait.
Don’t push your body to the point where it has to raise its voice.
Listen now.
Reach out to Teresa.
Talk to her about where you may be out of alignment.
Ask her what it means to build a nervous system that supports you instead of betrays you.
Let her guide you into the simple, powerful practices that help you feel grounded, centered, and capable of navigating whatever life brings.
Because you deserve to live in a body that feels cared for
not only when you’re forced to,
But because you choose to.
Your body is talking.
The question is whether you will listen now…
Or wait until listening becomes the only option.
“Most people think the warning labels don’t apply to them until the moment they realize they always did.” – Belinda Egan
