>>41240368
Something a family member is thinking about

The weight of an old, unsaid decision is pressing down on their ability to enjoy the present quiet. They are fixated on a fork in the road they took years ago, not because the current path is bad, but because they are constantly calculating the unlived parallel life. There is a deep, internalized fear of financial stasis masked by a superficial contentment with routine. They are replaying a conversation in their mind - - a brief, almost forgotten disagreement about a small purchase or a missed opportunity to invest- -and it has become a distorted monument to what they perceive as their own lack of foresight. They are not unhappy, but they are haunted by the might-have-been versions of security and comfort. This is a silent, isolating inventory of their life's choices. The thought is a dull, persistent ache: "Did I settle, or did I simply choose too safely?"