i do not tell myself any odd things, but i do an odd thing to turn my mind off. it doesn't turn my mind off; it just overloads it with something else. i play the initial game, or variations thereof. right now i am working on famous people whose given names begin with c. i'm almost done because i am ill and my brain is a little fried so i can't think as well as usual.

g

You can't be a phoenix without there first being a pile of ashes..

Semper gumby
Learned this one when I was getting my aircrew qualifications and found out how easily big plans quickly unravel from small problems and you need to be flexible to get through it.

"you only have to be here 10 years more. Anything beyond that is your choice"

..

At my age, I'm starting to make decisions based on my mortality. Recently I had an investment option presented to me which I rejected in part because it would have tied funds up for 11 years and there's a definite possibility I'll be incapable of work or dead by then, so I can't tie them up for that long.

I found this extremely comforting. I'm on the home stretch. I can put up with anything for another decade or so. All problems are finite. Combine that with the saying, "this, too, shall pass" plus the fact the most everything I once considered unthinkable has already happened to me, and I realize that my problems are not only temporary, but I'm literally no longer afraid of anything.