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Sometimes our bodies aren’t up to speed with our ambitions. A friend wrote me this morning disappointed that she woke with a migraine on the day of her huge business photoshoot. She is doing the best she can to slow the pain so she can give it her all.

Sadly, our schedules and dreams often lead us to push against our bodies instead of care for them. It’s true that we can’t always predict when we might not feel well. We can’t control if we start menstruating, get a headache, or catch a stomach bug. But we can control how we react so to make the process easier.

I find it helps to think of our bodies as children. It is certainly up to us to care for them, but sometimes they don’t understand what is going on around us. They don’t understand why we sometimes choose to work out hard when we feel guilty for eating too much versus when we lounge around. They don’t understand our desire to dance, party, or take an extra-long shower without restoring the skin with moisturizer afterward. The body simply reacts to our input (and sometimes just does whatever it wants).

For example, I accidentally drank too much this weekend (Germannyyyyy) and was pretty hungover Sunday morning. I felt physically awful (and rather sheepish), but rather than just fight it, I apologized to my body and explained what happened. I screwed up and my body paid. In the aftermath of such choices, it’s also my responsibility to make it right and help my body get better, just like a parent would (or should).

I don’t mean just to feel better so I can function and get on with my day. I mean restore the vitamins that were stripped by the alcohol, take some probiotics to support my gut health, and rest so my blood pressure could return to normal.

It’s common practice in the West to ignore the body. To goad it into submission. How might it feel as entrepreneurs to instead treat the body as a partner? An active agent in our success?

In the case of my friend, I suggested that she tell her body she needs it today and that she’s doing what she can to support its healing. She said she felt a lot better about her circumstances after taking my advice. I hope this practice helps you as well.