Getting older makes certain arguments feel too expensive for the amount of life they consume.

Every argument costs time, sleep, and attention, and those become visibly finite. A dispute that would have been worth three days at twenty-five is plainly not worth three days at forty-five, not because you care less about being right but because you can now see the three days as a real subtraction from a limited supply.

Before entering a conflict, ask what it will cost in days and what you will have at the end of it. Some things are worth the whole week. Most are worth one clear sentence and then letting it go, and knowing which is which saves more life than almost any other habit.