From the archive

You're defending it because you've already spent five years on it

It's convenient to cast the past as a creditor. There it sits, demanding: give me back my youth, my money, my sleepless nights. Prove it wasn't all for nothing. And you pay. Another year, another loan, another attempt to revive something you're keeping alive purely out of respect for your own stubbornness. But the previous years won't come back if you stay. They're already spent. The question is how many more you'll put beside them to avoid saying something unpleasant. “I chose the wrong thing.”