A no stings for a week. A “what if” can follow you for ten years.

Rejection is sharp and short. An unasked question is dull and permanent, and it gets heavier because you never learn the answer, so your mind keeps supplying versions of it. One of those costs you a bad week and the other quietly rents space for a decade.

Think of the thing you have been almost doing for months. Ask which of the two you would rather carry. Then make the ask small enough to do today instead of preparing for it further.