Act like you are strong even if you don’t feel strong.

A nurse on a bad shift keeps her voice level. Not because she feels calm, she is counting things and worried, but because the voice is part of the treatment. It steadies the room, and steadying the room is half the job.

None of that is pretence. It is the order the parts come in. Acting steady produces a small amount of genuine steadiness, in you as well as in whoever else is in the room reading your face for information.