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This is the first article in the life audit series. It concerns situations that were meant to be temporary but, through repetition, became our second nature.

“I’ll just work a bit longer today” turns into years spent in front of a laptop, with chronic back pain as a bonus.
“I’ll smoke just one cigarette” becomes a long-term and harmful addiction.
“I’ll stay here only until I find a better job” — and suddenly twenty years have passed, and you are still there.

It is worth creating a list of situations that were meant to be temporary but quietly became a form of imprisonment. Sometimes it is a relationship — not necessarily romantic. Perhaps you became accustomed to a toxic acquaintance, and they to you, and the years moved on.

There are also positive versions of this trap. A few casual dates might unexpectedly lead to compatibility and a family. A temporary experiment may turn into a meaningful hobby.

But what about the situations that do not serve you? Perhaps watching a series “just to relax” has become a compulsive routine used to suppress anxiety about the future.

I will not tell you what to do. It is, however, worth examining these situations carefully. Look at them from the perspective of your younger self — what would that version of you have said? Now let the clock jump twenty years forward. Your older self is observing your present choices.

Do you still want it to look like this?

Traps are difficult to escape.

Create your own escape plan from a situation that doesn’t serve you. Don’t start with radical moves. As my friend says, sometimes it was simply meant to be.

However, if a situation objectively does not serve you, you — the person who knows best your own potential and capabilities — should analyze and reflect carefully. Perhaps it is worth stopping being a prisoner of temporariness.