Suppose you sign up for an activity and spend weeks preparing for it. Halfway through, you realize you do not enjoy it and would rather spend your time on something else. Still, quitting feels wrong. What about all the time you already put in? That feeling makes sense to me. We are often told that finishing what we start shows commitment. Sometimes it does. Working through a difficult week can be worthwhile, especially when the activity still matters to us. But staying only b

You open an app to see what your friends are doing. A few minutes later, you have seen someone's vacation, someone else's award, and a photo from a gathering you were not at. None of the posts is necessarily meant to hurt you. Still, you might close the app feeling worse about your own day. Social media makes it easy to compare moments that do not really belong side by side. You see someone else's celebration while sitting at home doing homework. You know that a post is only

A conversation can be over in five minutes and still take up the rest of your evening. You remember one sentence you said, wonder if it sounded strange, and start imagining what the other person thought. Then you go back to the beginning and replay it again. Why do we do this? Sometimes, looking back is useful. If I interrupted a friend, for example, I might decide to listen more carefully next time. But there is a point where I am no longer learning anything new. I am just a

Imagine sending a message at midnight because you feel overwhelmed. An AI chatbot replies right away. It asks what happened, suggests taking a breath, and helps you put your thoughts into words. In that moment, an immediate response might be useful. But is getting a helpful reply the same as talking to a therapist? I think the answer depends on what we are asking AI to do. A chatbot might explain a coping exercise or help someone notice a pattern in their thoughts. If can als