I bought the proper winter coat instead of telling myself to make do again

Dear Delyara, I have a long history of making do with discomfort when the discomfort belongs to me. A coat that lets rain through a bit, boots that hurt by the end of the day, a cracked phone screen I’ll somehow keep living with, a mattress I’ve complained about for months. If it’s my body carrying the cost, I can endure almost anything and call it being sensible. This week I stopped doing that with the coat. I stood there in the shop, tried the good one on, looked at the price, and felt the old resistance rise. Then I thought about how many winter mornings I stand at bus stops, school gates, and car parks in clothes chosen more by guilt than by care. So I bought it. I wore it this morning and felt warmer in more ways than one.