"Back in Line" with Dr. Mosier: My Wife is Nutty

Squirrels, Princesses, and Bigger Arms

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about rest and recovery. And I’m realizing there’s a difference between doing nothing and actually recovering.

Sometimes we think rest means sitting on the couch, scrolling through our phones, and watching three hours disappear. Sure, you weren’t working—but did you actually feel better afterward?

Maybe a better way to gauge recovery is simple: Do I feel better after doing this?

For some people, recovery might be quilting, knitting, baking, reading, working a puzzle, or doing something creative that stimulates the brain without adding more stress.

For me, one of those things is basketball.

I can play basketball, get absolutely exhausted, and somehow walk away feeling better than when I started. Physically, I worked hard. Mentally, though, I recovered.

That’s the point.

Recovery doesn’t always mean lying down. Sometimes it means doing something that gives your brain a break from the things that normally consume it.

Which brings me to date night.

Ellen and I have a bad habit of talking about work on our dates. We love what we do, so inevitably our conversations drift toward the office, ideas, plans, goals, and what we need to accomplish next.

So recently, I decided we needed a different conversation.

I looked at Ellen and asked:

“If you could be any animal, what would you be—and why?”

She said a squirrel.

Which is fitting… because she’s nuttier than squirrel turds.

But her actual answer was much better than mine.

She said she’d want to be a squirrel because they’re strong, fierce, determined, and willing to climb. She connected it to climbing the tree toward success—continuing to work her way higher even when it isn’t easy.

And when I think about it, that answer fits her pretty well right now.

Ellen is in the process of opening the Salem Indiana Massage Academy, where she’ll be taking everything she’s learned as an educator and massage therapist and pouring it into the next generation of massage therapists.

She isn’t just climbing the tree for herself anymore.

She’s building something that can give other people a tree to climb, too.

Students will have the opportunity to learn a skill, build a career, serve others, and hopefully create a future they’re proud of. And Ellen gets to do what she does best—teach, encourage, and help people recognize what they’re capable of becoming.

So maybe the squirrel thing wasn’t so nutty after all.

Then I asked her what her favorite childhood movie was.

The Princess Diaries.

She loved it because she could see herself in the story—the ordinary girl discovering that she was capable of becoming something more.

Suddenly, instead of talking about work, we were laughing, learning things about each other, and having a conversation we probably never would have had otherwise.

We eventually made our way to Derby Dinner Playhouse, where we took a picture together.

Later, Ellen wanted me to use AI to flatten her stomach in the picture.

Being the loving, mature, supportive husband that I am…

I told AI to make my arms A LOT bigger.

And it did.

Then I made the mistake of looking back and forth between the real picture and the AI-edited version.

Real me.

AI me.

Real me.

AI me.

And I thought… Dang. I wish I looked like that guy.

Of course, bigger arms don’t come from AI. They come from training—and good training requires good recovery.

If I want my workouts to improve, if I want to get stronger, and if I want to keep progressing, I can’t just push harder every single day.

I have to recover.

And the same thing is true outside the gym.

You can’t constantly pour energy into your work, your family, your responsibilities, and everyone around you without occasionally doing something that restores some of that energy.

So find something that helps you recover.

Bake something.

Knit.

Quilt.

Read.

Play basketball.

Go on a date and refuse to talk about work.

Ask your spouse what animal they would be.

Whatever it is, find something that leaves you feeling better afterward than you did before.

Because sometimes the most productive thing you can do is recover well enough to come back stronger.

I hope this was helpful. I love you guys.

See you next time,

Dr. Mosier