I opted out of my pension for more pay — now what?

You opted out because the number on your payslip mattered more, in that moment, than a number you could not yet see. That was not foolish. It was reasoning with incomplete information, and it is common. But 'later' is not a plan — it is a date with no page in the calendar. Ask plainly: who is served by this delay? Not your older self, who will need the income. Not anyone who depends on you. Not even your present self, who is quietly losing money each month, since free contributions and tax relief are pay you have simply declined to collect. Reason does not permit us to treat future selves as strangers whose dignity does not count. You do not have to solve this alone or all at once. Bring it to the people working through this with you. A pod or a partner can hold the date you set, ask the question you would rather avoid, and make sure this month is the one that finally changes.