My body finally said enough and I had to listen

Last week I was rushing to finish a client's video edit, 3 cups of coffee deep, when my chest started doing something weird. Tight. Heavy. I thought it was just anxiety until my left arm went numb.

I sat on my kitchen floor in Lekki for 20 minutes convincing myself I was fine. That's the thing we do, we keep pushing because rent is due and the gig economy doesn't pause for breakdowns.

Eventually I called my friend who dragged me to the hospital. High blood pressure, stress induced. The doctor said if I was older it could have been a full blown stroke. I'm 23. My body is literally keeping score of all the deadlines I've been ignoring.

I've been forced to rest this week and honestly? The world didn't end. The client is still waiting. So who exactly was I killing myself for?