Clients stream into my office like clockwork, each carrying their usual suitcase of struggles — marriages, kids, jobs, along with all the tangled emotions that come with them. But lately, something’s shifted. A new weight hangs in the air and a different kind of struggle thickens our sessions. And I know it’s not just me. I’ve checked — my colleagues across the board are noticing this same thing.

The world outside is tilting, and my clients are feeling the ground shifting beneath them. Certainties they once leaned on — global stability, democracy, their own sense of safety — now feel as fragile as a house of cards. And the fear this stirs up doesn’t just linger in the present. It catapults forward, racing them past here-and-now reality and straight into a full-blown dystopian future:

They picture new, deadlier pandemics wiping out entire populations, families ripped apart by government mandates, a country morphing into a high-tech surveillance state. Their voices drop as they paint these fears, their eyes wide with uncertainty — then, with a nervous laugh and hopeful glance in my direction, they ask, half-joking, half-pleading,

“So… can you fix this?”

I lean back in my chair, offer them a gentle smile, and say, “Of course I can.”

It’s true — just not exactly in the way they’re hoping for.

So what do I tell them?

I tell them what the science tells me.

“First,” I begin, leaning forward conversationally, “I know what you’re looking for — a simple foolproof method we can apply that will make things right again. Five steps, maybe seven, that will not only change how you feel but also transform the world while we’re at it.”

I grab a folder from beside my chair and flip through it with exaggerated concentration. “Let’s see… a nine-step blueprint? Nope. A 30-day reset? Close, but not quite. Ah, here’s a promising one…” My voice trails off, then I look up with a compassionate gaze.

“Here’s the thing — none of these methods are the answer.”

I........

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