Daily Gratitude: “We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.”

Wow this is so profound. Each part has gold in it.

Fear manifests itself as hurt because it’s also more “acceptable” to tell someone you’re hurt than it is to say “I’m scared”.

And the imagination part is key. Our imaginations are powerful even when you think you’re not a creative person. Just think about a slight pain you have or had. Pretty soon, it increases. And it’s not long before the worst possible outcome is there in the front of your mind.

In 2025 at Vol State I felt this sharp shooting pain in my foot. Every step i took was like an electrical shock in my foot and up my leg. I can tell you that within 10 steps I had at least 5 major things wrong with my foot.

By the time I was able to hobble over to a place to sit, I was sure my race was over. And of course, all the attendant emotions floated up with that thought.

Turns out it was a metal strip that had somehow punctured the sole of my shoe and gone through the insert and up into my foot. Once it was removed my foot was fine. But my imagination took off prior to having all the facts. Of course that’s a survival mechanism we humans have. If we waited to have all the facts before we acted, we’d get eaten by the big tiger pursuing us.

We just have to recognize these facts and take our time before losing control of our responses. It was a good lesson for me.