Settling doesn’t feel like giving up. It feels like being reasonable. That’s what makes it dangerous.

Giving up announces itself; settling does not. It arrives as a series of sensible adjustments, each one defensible, until what you wanted has quietly been swapped for what was available. Nobody notices the moment it happens, because there is no moment.

Look at something you have recently decided to be realistic about. Ask whether the new version genuinely fits you better or is simply easier to get. Being reasonable is fine, as long as you chose it rather than drifted into it.