Seneca: It ruins the soul to fear the future and suffer…

Waiting for uncertain news can make the mind rush ahead through dozens of possible futures. We try to protect ourselves by feeling the loss early, as though extra worry could soften a later blow. Usually it only steals the time that is still ours. Concern may call for preparation: gather information, make a plan, ask for help, or schedule the appointment. After that, repeated rehearsal adds little. Today, notice when you are treating a possibility as if it were already a fact. Return to one present duty or pleasure: make lunch, finish the task, walk outside, listen carefully to someone you love. This is not irresponsibility or forced optimism. It is refusing to pay twice for a pain that may never arrive. The future will bring its own requirements when it comes. Meet those requirements then, while allowing the current hour to be more than a corridor of dread.