Maintenance is respect for things you intend to keep.

How you treat something says what you expect from it. Maintenance is the practical form of intending to keep a thing: the oil change, the difficult conversation, the practice session, the check-up. Neglect communicates the opposite even when your stated intentions are good, and the object or the person eventually responds to the treatment rather than the intention.

Pick something you intend to keep for a long time and give it one act of maintenance this week. Notice how differently you feel about it afterwards.