It’s much easier to fall back into bad habits than expand good ones.

Even worse, getting back into the good ones feels twice as hard once you’ve slipped.

I haven’t been on my morning routine for over a month now. It started with hitting the snooze button a few extra times. I’d take out one of the less time-consuming activities like meditation or journaling.

Writing, designing, exercising, they stayed for a bit. But hitting snooze was so much easier. Soon I was setting my alarm for much later, and still snoozing. In less than 10 days the personal regime I had followed for months was over.

I told myself that it was alright. I could get back into it at any time, no loss. That was over a month ago. And I’ve noticed it in my mental and physical health.

These setbacks make us feel like failures. This, in turn, makes getting back on track even more difficult.

But this isn’t a failure. This is a detour.

It’s a little after 4 am, I’ve been up for half an hour already. I’ve made my smoothie, my lunch, and jotted a few thoughts in my journal.

I’m tired, it’ll probably be a two-coffee day, I’m not used to functioning this early. But I’ve done it before and I know how good it will feel to be back on the path I stayed with for months.

We all break good habits and routines. The bad ones are always easier to fall back on. They take little effort, they reward laziness, make us feel comfortable while giving nothing in return — sometimes even causing harm.

But good habits, while involving additional effort and occasional discomfort, are so much more rewarding in the long term.

Life happens, and things get in the way. Detours are inevitable. But the road isn’t lost, you just need to find your way back.