Lifestyle bloat will kill you.

It won’t explode like a heart attack. It’ll settle like cholesterol. Quiet. Hidden. Layered under bonuses, beneath EMIs, behind that new espresso machine you tell yourself you needed.

It begins softly. A promotion. A leather bag. A weekend staycation. The rise feels honest. Feels earned. Feels deserved.

“Treat yourself.”
“You’ve worked hard.”
“This is your time.”

And maybe it is. Until it isn’t.

I was walking with an old friend last Sunday. Same guy who once bunked classes to watch Rockstar. Now an AVP. Sharp, clean, distant.
He pointed at a billboard for luxury apartments in Gurugram.
“Thinking of upgrading,” he said.
“Why?” I asked.
He shrugged.
“Better location. Bigger pool. My son deserves it.”

That last line said everything.

The pool wasn’t for the son. The pool was to justify the rest of the sentence. Because once you upgrade, you can’t downgrade without shame. And shame bleeds deeper than debt.

This is lifestasis.
Where comfort becomes cement. Where each purchase narrows your path. Where escape feels like ruin.

History already wrote this story.
Versailles drowned in perfume while France bled in the streets. Royals chose comfort until the guillotine arrived.
Even in India, zamindars built stone houses that outlived their heirs. Their lineage remained stuck in debt, unable to leave, unable to adapt.

Today, Indians walks the same path in quieter shoes.
Latest IPhones on EMI.
5 cars on EMI.
High-rise flats on EMI.
Loan-funded vacations.
Everything says freedom. Until one missed paycheck makes the whole structure tremble.

I met a colleague last year. He had a dying father in Lucknow. Couldn’t leave his Gurgaon job to go home. Said,
“Can’t risk the salary drop.”
He sent money. Skipped the funeral. Smiled during meetings.

Another friend had dreams of opening a cafe. He wakes at 7 am now to log in.
“EMI hai, bhai. Ab toh safe chalna padega.”

That's how freedom becomes a beautiful captivity.

Companies feed it.
They raise your pay just enough. Offer perks that feel like progress. Give promotions that come with golden ropes.
You build around it.
The better school. The smarter phone. The imported cheese.

Every swipe feels powerful. Until you realise you’re swiping to keep breathing.

So what’s the answer?
It isn’t rejection but flexibility.
Build a life you can exit. Spend in a way that doesn’t punish your future. Choose growth without chaining your spirit.

Because one day, change will come. Through loss. Or longing. Through love. Or grief.
And when it does, only one question will matter.

Can you stop?
Or have you built a life that requires your silence to stay alive?

Be the one who can walk away.
Because freedom only exists where exits do.