If inflation eats cash, and investing is the only option, how do you manage market volitality?

I have a lump sum of cash I’m sitting on that people shriek at me for not investing. They say I’m losing value due to inflation. Yet, all I see is the markets falling. Bones are out of the question, because I want to have access to the money immediately. Yet, I don’t want to dump it in stocks because of the volitality.

What do?