Healthy Doggedness

As I was cooking dinner after another unproductive working day, it struck me that the astonishing bit was not how unproductive I had lately been but how I hadn't let it get me down. I hadn't told myself that I was lazy, stupid or unmotivated. Instead, I had managed to keep in reasonably good spirits and soldiered on. Was the pandemic responsible for this new healthy doggedness in me? I emphasize healthy because doggedness can also be unhealthy if accompanied with merciless self-criticism and overwork. Some people find it easy to push themselves, but tend to push too hard, to their own detriment. I feel like I am doing a reasonably good job of pushing myself and to use that cliche of our time, "being kind to myself". And as luck would have it, minutes later,  I got an idea to get out of the rut that I was stuck in. After dinner, I rushed back to writing my PhD chapter. I wouldn't call my idea a breakthrough, but it has definitely got me moving again.