You’re allowed to want an ordinary life. A quiet, decent life is not a failure of ambition.

Somewhere along the way ordinary started sounding like a verdict instead of a life. A steady job, people you love, a street you know well: those are things many adults spend years trying to get back to rather than escape. Wanting them is not a shortage of nerve, and size is not the same as meaning.

Try describing a good Tuesday ten years from now in detail, without mentioning money or anyone being impressed. Notice how much of it is already within reach. If what you want is quiet, you do not owe relatives an apology for it when they ask about your plans.