When you’ve been in survival mode for a while, calm can feel unfamiliar.
You might even question it.
“Why am I not reacting?”
“Why am I not emotional?”
“Am I becoming cold?”
But calm isn’t cold.
Calm is regulated.
It’s the feeling of standing without bracing.
It’s not that problems disappear. It’s that they don’t control your nervous system anymore.
I began telling myself something simple:
“I got it. Everything will be alright.”
Not because nothing bad will happen.
But because I’ve been at the bottom before — and I survived.
That realization changes you.