Time only moves forward.
To live, we need to risk making mistakes. And sometimes, mistakes are permanent.
This creates constraints. Restrictions placed on us by our younger, stupider selves. Complete decisions made with incomplete information.
We need to make choices, but choices will definitely trap us.
How to reconcile this?
By choosing our own trappings.
The world is too complex to be managed without constraints. To become something, we have to give up everything else.
And thankfully, we get to choose what to give up.
If we make these tradeoffs voluntarily (rather than waiting for time to force our hand), we can use constraints to our advantage.
Instead of tying us down, these decisions can narrow our focus, freeing us to explore the space that remains.
Chances are, some choices won't pan out as well as we hope.
But maybe, in the end, that doesn't matter.