Here’s some perspective.
The inimitable Duane Davis visited Shades of Blue today to impart some wisdom and push them to try some new things musically. At the end of one piece, he asked them to sing a phrase again, “as if it were the last phrase you’d ever sing.”
How much care would you put into a phrase if you knew it would be the last music you would make? I would imbue every single element with as much emotion, musicality, and passion as I could muster, and I suspect you would, too.
We can treat every phrase with that care, and we should. Put as much meaning into the music as you can. Raise the stakes.