The shaking started again, a familiar tremor in my abs. I focused on my breathing, the soft hum of the city outside a distant soundtrack. I watched the timer on my phone climb. 48... 49... 50. That was yesterday's limit. My body wanted to quit, to accept the previous day's success as enough.

But a quiet voice insisted, Just a little more. Today is a new day.

I held on. 51... 52... 53... 54... 55. I let myself down gently, a wide grin spreading across my face.

It was only five seconds. A tiny, almost unnoticeable sliver of time. But to me, it was everything. It was proof. It was progress. And I knew, with a certainty that felt stronger than my trembling muscles, that I would be back tomorrow.