Fear

the worry that won't put itself down

There's a worry that won't put itself down — it follows you from room to room, rehearsing what hasn't happened yet. Before you try to outrun it, walk four short steps with these lines, set down by people who knew this same long night.

Fear lives almost entirely in the future, and it pulls you there on autopilot. Notice where the oldest text says freedom actually begins:
Paying attention is the path to freedom. Drifting through life on autopilot leads nowhere. Those who stay awake are truly alive; those who sleepwalk are already gone.Dhp 21
You can't promise yourself nothing bad will come. But there is something steadier to build than a wall against the storm:
Through wakefulness, self-discipline, and steady effort, a wise person builds an island within themselves, a refuge that no storm can flood.Dhp 25
An island like that isn't found — it's tended, quietly, from the inside. The text names who keeps the watch:
By yourself you should correct yourself and examine yourself. Self-guarded and mindful, the seeker will always live in happiness.Dhp 379
And when that watch holds, the worry doesn't have to be fought off at the door. It simply finds nowhere left to land:
Just as rain can't get through a well-thatched roof, desires can't overwhelm a mind that's been carefully trained.Dhp 14

You came in carrying a worry that wouldn't rest. You can set it down here — not because it was foolish to fear, but because you were never as unsheltered as it told you.