The world becomes more interesting when “that’s just how it is” stops ending the conversation.

That is just how it is functions as a door closing. It is usually not a claim about reality but a signal that curiosity has stopped, either from tiredness or from having accepted an explanation someone else gave a long time ago. Almost everything behind that phrase has a history, a reason, and often a decision that could have gone another way.

Catch yourself saying it this week and ask one question past it instead. Why is it like that, who decided, when did it change last. Some of the answers are dull. A few will genuinely alter how you see something you had stopped looking at.