Question your fears. Seneca, Epistles 2.13.4-6
Before FDR, Seneca recognized that fear is a powerful human motivator. Too powerful for us to allow it to rampage unchecked within our minds. When you aren't in immediate danger, take time to question your fears. Otherwise, they will drive you to bad places you did not have to see.
Plura sunt, Lucili, quae nos terrent quam quae premunt, et saepius opinione quam re laboramus. Non loquor tecum Stoica lingua, sed hac summissiore; nos enim dicimus omnia ista quae gemitus mugitusque exprimunt levia esse et contemnenda. Omittamus haec magna verba, sed, di boni, vera: illud tibi praecipio, ne sis miser ante tempus, cum illa quae velut imminentia expavisti fortasse numquam ventura sint, certe non venerint.
Quaedam ergo nos magis torquent quam debent, quaedam ante torquent quam debent, quaedam torquent cum omnino non debeant; aut augemus dolorem aut praecipimus aut fingimus. Primum illud, quia res in controversia est et litem contestatam habemus, in praesentia differatur. Quod ego leve dixero tu gravissimum esse contendes; scio alios inter flagella ridere, alios gemere sub colapho. Postea videbimus utrum ista suis viribus valeant an imbecillitate nostra. Illud praesta mihi, ut, quotiens circumsteterint qui tibi te miserum esse persuadeant, non quid audias sed quid sentias cogites, et cum patientia tua deliberes ac te ipse interroges, qui tua optime nosti, quid est quare isti me complorent? quid est quod trepident, quod contagium quoque mei timeant, quasi transilire calamitas possit? est aliquid istic mali, an res ista magis infamis est quam mala? Ipse te interroga, 'numquid sine causa crucior et maereo et quod non est malum facio?'
The things that scare us, Lucilius, are more numerous than those that actually threaten, and we struggle more with opinions than with facts. I address you now not in Stoic language, but with one that is gentler. Even so, we affirm that all thoughts expressed by groans and sighs are slight and contemptible, not to be taken seriously. Let us take for granted these words, great⸺good gods, so great!⸺but nonetheless true: Do not give way to misery before your time, I tell you, as the result will be that you never see the arrival of things that have driven you out of your mind with fear, as though they were already upon you.
Some things hurt us more than they should, others before they should, and others yet hurt us despite being utterly harmless. Our contribution here is either to increase the harm, to provoke it, or to invent it. The first fact to confront: because our position in any given circumstance is a matter for controversy, something contested, we do not all approach it the same way. What I will call slight or insignificant, you will contend to be most weighty, a matter of gravest consequence. I know that some folk laugh at whips, while others wail over a single box on the ears. After confrontation we will see the power of whatever faces us, whether it waxes by its own strength or by our foolishness. Do this for me: every time you find yourself surrounded by people attempting to persuade you that you are miserable, think of how you feel rather than what you hear. Be patient, and review your own affairs carefully in your mind, remembering that you know them best. Ask yourself, "Why would these people weep over me? What sort of thing do they fear? What contagion do they dread catching from me, as though damage could leap from one person to another? Is there something here actually evil, or is my situation merely one of ill repute?" Then a follow-up question: "Am I torturing myself for no reason, creating grievous evil for myself that does not already exist?"