A healthy body makes thousands of ordinary experiences possible without announcing any of them.

A working body makes possible a thousand small things you never register. Carrying shopping, sitting through a meal, sleeping without pain, playing with a child, walking somewhere without planning around it. None of these announce themselves, and together they make up most of what an ordinary good day is made of. They are noticed almost exclusively in their absence.

Spend a day paying attention to the things your body lets you do without asking. It is a short exercise and it tends to change how you think about maintenance for weeks afterwards.