A choice can be beneficial and still not be worth its full cost.

Something can genuinely improve your life and still be a bad trade. The benefit is real; the question is what it costs relative to what else that money, time, or energy could have done. Comparing an option against nothing makes almost everything look worthwhile, which is how full lives get fuller and no better.

When weighing something up, do not ask whether it is good. Ask what else the same resources could buy. Compare it against the best alternative, not against doing nothing.