04/04/2026
“Why is it taking so long? When will it happen?”
These are questions I am asked often when sitting at the bedside of someone who is dying, by those who were waiting uncomfortably, anxiously, and nervously.
And I always come back to what I truly believe, which is that the body knows what to do.
It knows how to die.
It is prepared for it. Sometimes it is loud, with sounds and movement.
Sometimes it is so quiet you don’t even notice the moment the last breath is taken. Either way, the body is leading… and we are asked to trust it.
But here is the part we don’t talk about often enough… the body also knows how to live.
It speaks to us long before the end.
It tells us when something isn’t right.
When we are hungry or dehydrated, when something aches, when our breathing changes, and when our skin looks different.
These are not inconveniences, they are messages.
And still… we override them. We minimize them. We ask our bodies to be quiet.
Part of me wonders, if we listened sooner, listened better… could we prevent some of the suffering we see later? Would we seek help earlier, could we change the course earlier, and avoid some of the long, drawn-out journeys we witness at the end of life?
The truth is that the body is always speaking to us. It does give us a heads up… we listen, but we tell it to be quiet.
Sometimes it is a whisper, sometimes it is a scream.
Either way, it is trying to guide us.
So, whether you are sitting at a bedside, waiting and wondering… or moving through your own life in a body that is trying to get your attention, the invitation is the same:
Trust it.
Listen to it.
The body is not the problem. It is the messenger. And it is far wiser than we give it credit.
Maybe our role was never to control it… only to listen.
xo
Gabby
www.thehospiceheart.net
