'we suffer more in our imagination than in reality'

Have you ever found yourself worrying about that never happened?

Ok, that was a rhetorical question, I know you have.

It’s okay, we all have. 🫂

The above quote from Seneca could be the most painfully obvious, yet brutal thing I’ve ever read.

We suffer more in our imagination than in reality.

We suffer MORE in our imagination, than in reality.

We spend so much time worried about how bad things are going to be, that we ACTUALLY torture ourselves, more than the thing we’re concerned about ever could. (if it ever happens at all in the first place)

Read that again.

Are you beginning to understand?

Imagination vs Reality

Our mind is the most powerful thing in this universe.

Not the sun, not a black hole, not the gravitational forces.

It is the only organ that knows it’s an organ.

The mind is infinite. It has no bounds.

That is a good and a bad thing, at the same time.

Bad, since it has the power to spin up a million imaginary scenarios from just one word that your friend said.

I know I’m relating hard to you right now.

You beat yourself up so much over something that has not even happened yet, and on the day of the interview you find out that they are super warm people and you end up talking confidently and landing the job.

And you probably think, ‘Oh, is this what I was dreading over all this while?’

Listen close.

Your mind is a trash-in, trash-out system.

Meaning, its outputs only depend on its inputs.

If the input feed is good, the output is 10x better.

But if the input is bad, the output is 10x worse.

Notice how the inputs and outputs aren’t linear.

This is what makes our minds special.

It has the power to amplify our thoughts, ideas, and visions.

It doesn’t know the concept of good and bad, right and wrong.

It thrives more on what you feed it. It exponentially multiplies it and spreads that out everywhere.

The mind does not know it’s overthinking.

Nor does it know it’s thinking about something that’s unnecessary.

It just thinks.

Based on your smallest thoughts.

All it needs is the tiniest of ideas to take root.

So my point being,

If the mind can spin up a million scenarios where things could go wrong,

it could also spin up a million more scenarios where things go right.

Reality Check/Cheque

There’s a rap lyric that I love:

Reality checks are forced. They are not planned. No one sees it coming.

That’s why it’s called a reality check.

You are suddenly hit with a realization of where you are in life, your current state, and everything.

Reality checks usually happen when you’re deep in trouble, or everything is going to shit.

The feeling is like rock bottom.

My question to you is, why wait for something bad to happen so that you can have a reality check?

Doesn’t that sound, for the lack of a simpler word…stupid?

You know something’s off, but you wait for everything to go worse so the realization hits harder.

Check yourself.

Train yourself to take a step back here and there, look at the bigger picture, and then at the finer print.

Do this both when things are going right, and when they are not.

We tend to only take a look at things when they go wrong, but not when they’re going right.

I promise you, once you start doing it more, you’ll thank me later.

So to conclude.

If you torture yourself over things that haven’t happened yet, just stop. (easier said than done, i know)

You can start worrying when they actually do happen, and if happen.

The mind is all-powerful. But it only amplifies what it’s fed.

Give it positivity, you will radiate happiness.

Feed fear, you are anxious 24/7.

Learn to reality-check yourself when times are good too.

Don’t wait for the world to tell you how bad you are doing.

You cannot afford that ‘cheque’.