Your grandparents remember prices that sound fake. Someday yours will sound fake to someone too. Every normal is temporary.

What feels like the fixed shape of the world is just the shape it has right now. The price of gas, what a phone costs, how people talk, what is embarrassing: all of it is a snapshot that will look dated to somebody who is not born yet. That cuts both ways. The rules you feel stuck inside are less permanent than they seem, which is good news more often than bad.

Write down what a few ordinary things cost this week and keep the list somewhere you will find it later. When something about your life feels unchangeable, ask whether it is actually fixed or just current.