I'd like to say that it's because I'm hard-of-hearing and 80% of the time I'm not wearing my hearing-aids, and that's why I'm awful at listening to my body... but it's not. Actually it has absolutely nothing to do with having a hearing-loss. Most of the time I just plain ol' ignore whatever my body is telling me. For this post I thought it'd be neat to write down some of the things my body has told me:

You need to crack your knuckles right now. Do you feel that crazy stressful ball of tension built-up? Yes, well, release it before your hands completely stiffen. 

You've been sitting too long in one position. Your femur feels like it's going to break doesn't it? Well that's because you've been sitting too long while you waste hours on twitter and facebook. So either you  adjust a little, or your femur will continue to pinch like it's on the verge of breaking.

Did you really have to fly over that pothole in your wheelchair like that? Really? Because now your tailbone is slowly turning bluish-purple like a bruise. Yeah you better be thankful that no one can see it, because it's not a pretty sight.

Oh, my, did you not know your back could sound like it's crunching down on raw carrots with the way you just cracked your back? Do you think maybe it's time twist your trunk from side to side? No - you don't think so? Okay well don't come crying to me like I didn't warn you! 

What's that? Your shoulder hurts? Well, Miss Smarty Pants, did you not think your shoulders wouldn't be strained when you climbed up the counter and hung from the cupboards? Oh - I'm so glad that those CoCo Puffs were worth it. 

Your rib hurts? Well next time when you sneeze try not sneezing all of your brains out! 

What's that you say? Only my body talks to me like that? No, no, no. You listen to your body the next time it talks, and you get back to me with what you hear!

The thing is I ignore those things. And off the top of my head there are several reasons why I ignore those things:
1. Not serious "enough." 
Having been through multiple osteotomies, endless muscle spasms post-op, and a rod sticking out of my skin -- the everyday chatter of my body just doesn't strike me as something I need to put the brakes on my life for. Does that make it right? No it doesn't. It just means that I (think) I know my body well enough that I have the ability to pick & choose.
2. I have things to do and places to be!
If I were to pause every time my body complained, I would really be slowing myself down. And for someone who always has her power wheelchair cranked to the fastest speed - that is not something I'm ready to adapt to. When I hear a weird sound, or my knee locks (yet again), I might stop and think about what it was. And quickly evaluate in my head: okay so that wasn't a fracture, moving right along now...
3. Because I just don't know what to do.
Okay so my back sometimes cracks in weird ways, and the way I crack my knuckles makes it really questionable as to whether or not my bones are (actually) brittle. But I do those things because they make my body feel better, I am honestly not sure how else to handle that tension or what my other options are for some of the gripes my body vocalizes.

I'm not telling you to totally ignore your body, or to totally succumb to its every beck and call either. (Because if I did that I would be floating on a waterbed, living in some tropical country, and living life as a Mermaid). What I am saying is that we need to each recognize that our bodies do react to the things we put it through with our everyday living. Get to know those reactions, get comfortable with recognizing what is serious and what's not, be okay with the fact that our bodies may not always talk back to us with a response we want to hear.