Anxiety and Future Pain
Stoic Reflection on how we create unnecessary suffering by imagining future disasters instead of living presently
"We suffer more often in imagination than in reality." — Seneca
This is part of the Stoic Reflection series. You can browse all reflections here
It's 3 AM.
Another sleepless night. Another battle with tomorrow's demons.
Your mind races through disasters that haven't happened. Creates pain that doesn't exist. Builds mountains out of possibilities.
The presentation. The meeting. The conversation.
In your head, you've lived through a thousand failures. Felt every sting of rejection. Tasted every bitter disappointment.
And for what?
Two thousand years ago, Marcus Aurelius wrote in his personal journal:
"Today I escaped from anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions—not outside."
He understood what we refuse to accept: anxiety is a liar. A skilled one. One that speaks in your own voice.
Your mind crafts perfect tragedies. Directs elaborate disasters. And forces you to watch them on repeat.
How many hours have you lost rehearsing failures that never came? How many nights have you spent fighting shadows? How many moments of peace have you sacrificed at the altar of what-if?
We're time travelers of trauma. Living tomorrow's problems today. Experiencing next week's pain this morning. Running simulations of failure before we've even tried.
Your mind claims it's protecting you. Preparing you. But protection doesn't demand suffering. Preparation doesn't require pain.
Look at your track record.
Count the disasters that never came. Count the worst-case scenarios that stayed imaginary. Count the mountains that turned out to be molehills.
Yet still we persist. Still we project. Still we poison our present with futures that don't exist.
It's beyond exhausting. It's theft.
Your mind steals today's joy to pay for tomorrow's fears. It trades your peace for the illusion of preparation. Promises safety in exchange for your suffering.
What a bargain - paying with real pain for imaginary protection.
Think of all the unexpected challenges you've faced. The ones that came without warning. The ones you had no time to dread.
You handled those, didn't you?
No midnight rehearsals. No elaborate preparations. No advance suffering.
You just... dealt with it.
Because that's what humans do. We adapt. We respond. We figure it out.
But only when we need to. Only when we're actually there. Only in the moment that matters.
All this pre-suffering? It's like trying to eat tomorrow's meals today. Like trying to breathe next week's air. Like trying to live a life that doesn't exist.
Marcus Aurelius, in another moment of clarity, wrote:
"Don't let your imagination be crushed by life as a whole. Don't try to picture everything bad that could possibly happen. Stick with the situation at hand, and ask, 'Why is this so unbearable? Why can't I endure it?' You'll be embarrassed to answer."
His words cut through centuries to challenge us:
What if you saved your strength for real battles? What if you trusted tomorrow's you to handle tomorrow's problems? What if – and this is the real revolution – you simply let tomorrow be tomorrow?
Next time your mind starts crafting disasters, pause.
Take a breath.
Ask yourself one simple question:
"Is this happening now?"
If the answer is no, come back to this moment.
This breath.
This reality.
Not the horror film your mind is producing.
Not the tragedy it's writing.
Not the pain it's inventing.
Your anxiety is a time machine stuck in reverse. Always racing toward imagined catastrophes. Always burning today's fuel to fight tomorrow's battles.
Stop.
You don't need to solve problems that don't exist. You don't need to carry weight that isn't yours yet. You don't need to suffer in advance.
This moment is pure.
Untouched by your mind's predictions.
Free from tomorrow's imagined pain.
Your strength isn't in your ability to imagine disasters.
Your strength is in your ability to face them when – if – they come.
And they might come.
Or they might not.
But right now?
Right now you're alive.
Right now you're breathing.
Right now you're free.
Don't waste that freedom fighting shadows.
Stay stoic,
This was a powerful read. Thank you for capturing the struggle with such clarity and for reminding us to reclaim the present from imaginary fears.
My past me, present me, and future me have been battling with one another for years now, and the only one it's hurting is present me..... Fantastic thoughts on anxiety. From someone who suffers with it, you hit the nail on the head.....