Suffering in Imagination

We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” — Seneca

We’ve all been there.

Tomorrow, or in the coming week, there’s an important presentation at work, an interview for a dream job, or a difficult exam to write.

How do you feel right now?

If you’re anything like me, you’re feeling stressed, anxious, and nervous.

But what happens afterwards? Everything’s completely fine. I wasn’t in any real danger. In most situations, even the worst case scenario isn’t bad at all.

So why was I putting myself though all this emotional baggage? I have a tendency to overthink things. I’m sure I’m not alone. It’s hard wired into us. Back when we were hunter gatherers, overthinking things helped our ancestors survive. Nowadays, most of us are fortunate that we rarely, if ever, face fight or flight situations. But we still inherited these survival instincts.

November 21, 2020


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