On a bad day, zoom out to the week. On a bad week, zoom out to the year. Keep zooming until it fits.

Scale changes what a thing weighs. Held at arm’s length, a bad afternoon is the entire world, because nothing else is in the frame to balance it. Widen the view and it becomes one entry among many, most of them fine, and the proportion comes back without anyone pretending it did not happen.

When something feels enormous, pick the timescale where it fits and look from there. A week, a year, five years. If it still feels enormous at every distance, that is worth telling someone you trust.