Awareness of the outside world. The link is a for a post about authors but I figure the principles apply elsewhere. Two points I found interesting. Conversation may come before the money request. Generate your own AI test letter as a way to be forewarned about the style. Whatever: Reminder: Scammers Are Out There Pretending to Be Me (and Other Authors as Well).
~~~
Bone is healed. Doc doesn’t need to see it again. Yay! [Doctor’s Appointment]
Soft tissue is taking longer.
Intellectually, I know that there is progress.
When I began doing again, I could lift all manner of things, including the pitchfork. Yay! [The Joys of Barn Cleaning]
I could lift, but not twist. One day the pitchfork was resting with the tines curved downwards. Without thinking, I swiveled the handle. Immediately, I had to spent several minutes wandering around the barn, holding my wrist, and questioning my life choices.
Similarly, I could not use the water at the barn. The handle is stiff and requires a sufficiency of horizontal force. Turning it on and off with the right hand was a no go. The bucket arrangement requires right-handed handle management. When I tried doing it cross-handed, water went everywhere.
And then, a week later, I could do it. It feels like forever and then I look back & see that I can do something I could not do the week before.
The other dilemma of rehab is being tired. You can do more. So you do more. And then you get tired. I spend most of my time tired.
Consider the scenario. After a productive & successful day, you put your feet up with a feeling of rest well earned. This is not that. This is doing one tiny task & being prostrate for two days.
Irritated is still the best way to describe it. “I am not in dread pain. I am not in despair. I am irritated.” [Note on Word Usage]
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 
And then there is “aggravated “, one of my favorite pet peeves.
Joan
This really resonated with me. That strange mismatch between “I can technically do things again” and the body’s very firm reminder that it’s not ready yet is so familiar. The pitchfork moment especially—how one small, automatic movement suddenly resets the whole day—felt painfully real.
I also appreciated how honestly you describe the fatigue: not the satisfying tiredness of a job well done, but that frustrating exhaustion that follows something that barely feels like an achievement. And your distinction between pain, despair, and irritation is spot on. “Irritated” feels like the truest word here.
Progress that only reveals itself in hindsight is still progress, even when it doesn’t feel like it in the moment. Wishing you patience (and fewer barn-induced life questions) as things continue to soften and strengthen.