“Will this matter in five years?” is a good question. Sometimes the honest answer is yes, and then you act like it.

Five years is a filter rather than an eraser. It clears out the argument in the group chat and the thing you said at lunch, which is most of what it catches. Sometimes the honest answer comes back yes, and then the question has done something far more useful than calming you down. It has told you this one deserves weight.

Ask it in both directions this week. If something really will still matter, stop handling it like a small thing and give it the time a five-year decision is worth.