Dropping an old hobby isn’t a failure. Trees don’t apologize for losing last year’s leaves.

Stopping something does not retroactively turn the years you spent on it into waste. It served a purpose, you got what it had for you, and then the conditions changed, which is an ordinary sequence rather than a collapse. Quitting gets treated as a verdict on your character. Most of the time it is accurate information about what you now need.

If you are carrying something out of obligation, let yourself put it down. Give it one honest test: if it were not already started, would you begin it today? A no is an answer, and it does not require a defense.