The rehearsal room

Make a list of the disasters that actually happened to you this year. Now make a list of the ones you lay awake rehearsing. Compare the lengths.

The mind runs a theatre that never closes, and it only ever stages one play: the bad ending. The email that gets you fired. The lump that turns out to be the thing. The conversation where they finally say what they really think of you. It runs every night, and you have front-row seats.

You can't shut the theatre. But you can stop buying tickets. Next time it's 2am and the curtain goes up, ask one question: is this happening right now, or am I watching the rehearsal? Most nights the answer sends you back to sleep.