We should make sure the things we do to feel better don’t make us feel worse.

Gretchen Rubin in Better Than Before

The COVID pandemic unraveled many of my life habits, including my most developed exercise habits. It started with an occasional lazy drive to work, saving me a pathetic five minutes. I live close enough to the hospital that driving is more about not sweating on the way than actually saving time. When parking became easier due to the large numbers of people working remotely, I caved in. After seven months of lockdown, I had a new habit — a bad one. At first it was like, “Ahhh.” Walking in the door of the hospital I wasn’t out of breath or damp with sweat. Then my body started to punish me with stiffness and a slightly achy back that would not quit, not even in the dead of night. Phew. I’m back on my little red Schwinn. A little sweaty, a little out of breath, but, as Gretchen Rubin’s book title puts it, rebuilding habits that will make me “better than before.”