Missing out on one thing isn’t missing out on your life. There’s a lot of life left, and it keeps coming.

One missed event is a small loss that feels structural while it is happening. The party you could not get to, the trip you could not afford: those sting for a week and take nothing off the total, because chances arrive continuously rather than in a single allocation. The fear works by implying a fixed supply that does not exist.

When you cannot go to something this month, say so without agonising and do something decent with the evening. Check a week later how much of the sting is left. Usually almost none, and that is worth finding out firsthand.