About this quote

Anxiety gets louder after dark and turns small fears into urgent scenes. Ask yourself what proof you actually have before your mind runs away. Make a simple habit: check for one steady fact — a hand, a breath, a familiar sound — and name it out loud. Do that enough nights and your fear becomes something you notice, not something that automatically takes over.

When to use it

• Waking from a bad dream in the middle of the night, I said this as soon as I saw my wife sleeping beside me.
• In the hospital waiting room after my dad's operation, I muttered these words when he opened his eyes and squeezed my hand.
• On a week-long work trip, I called my partner late and said this after he picked up and I could hear him laughing on the line.
• After a nightmare about our child, I checked the baby monitor and told my spouse this so I could calm down and fall back asleep.