Bruises go purple, then yellow, then gone. Pain has a color chart; you’re somewhere on it.

Healing runs in stages, and the ugly middle one often gets mistaken for the injury getting worse. Things look bad well after the damage stopped, which is confusing if you expect recovery to run straight from bad to better. Being at a rough point says nothing about whether the process is working. It says where you are in it.

Measure against last month rather than against yesterday, since the daily view sits too close to show movement. Ask whether it takes up less of your day than it used to. That question answers more honestly than how you feel right now.