A familiar breakfast can make an unfamiliar day feel possible to enter.

On days when everything ahead is uncertain, one known thing at the start does a surprising amount of work. The body gets a signal that not all of life has been rearranged, and from that small steadiness the rest becomes approachable. Sameness gets a bad name because it is confused with being stuck, but a fixed point is what lets you move at all.

Before a hard or unusual day, keep the first half hour exactly as it always is. Do not use the morning to also start something new. Let one part of the day be already decided so the rest has room.