Sprain an ankle and you’ll learn to miss the stairs. Appreciate your joints before they file a complaint.

Joints are the clearest example of something you perceive only when it fails. Every step involves an ankle doing a complicated job silently, and the whole arrangement stays invisible until one part stops cooperating and a staircase turns into a problem to be solved. Function is quiet. Malfunction is the only part that talks.

You can give it a little attention before it demands some. Move in ways that keep you mobile, warm up before hard efforts, and take small injuries seriously rather than waiting them out. It is maintenance on something that has been carrying you for free.