Slipping back into an old habit isn’t the end of the story. It’s a plot twist you can write your way out of.

Returning to an old pattern feels like proof that nothing changed, which is almost never accurate. Progress and relapse coexist, and what you learned did not evaporate because you took the old route once. The dangerous part is not the slip, it is the conclusion drawn from it.

Resume at the next opportunity rather than the next Monday. Look at what conditions were present, tiredness, a particular room, a particular hour, and change one of them before those conditions come around again.