“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston “The Slightly Better of Two Very Bad Options” Churchill

It doesn’t matter, said Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to Wyclef Jean that one time in that one song in the rapidly fading twilight of the 20th century.

Don’t beat yourself up. It doesn’t matter how much Japanese you didn’t (or, indeed, did) expose yourself to yesterday. Would it have helped if you had done more? Of course it would. But it doesn’t matter, because you would still need to some more exposure today if you want to keep your Japanese baby alive.

You fed the baby yesterday? Great. Feed her today.

Japanese people are just the people who started practicing Japanese and never stopped. And that’s you, too. You may or may not yet be a 日本人 (にほんじん, Japanese person) — indeed, you may or may not want to be — but you’re already a 日本語人 (にほんごじん, Japanophone) for life — should you choose to accept the mission.

Did you wash the dishes yesterday? Did you brush your teeth last night? Good girl. That won’t stop them getting dirty and needing washing again today, though. So get on that.

This is a forever war. You will be fighting until you draw your last breath, soldier. That is the only way to win. Permanent (high-frequency) engagement. Your memory is a puddle and the sun is always shining. Forgetting is evaporation. You need to add water to keep it from drying up. Water metaphors abound. So don’t get butthurt over the outcome of one battle, one skirmish, one sortie. Come again. Strike again. Engage again. Shoot again. Play again. Win again.

So enjoy yourself and play something fun!