Quote of the Day by Seneca: An executive sits in a quiet office, staring at an unread email from the board of directors. Within seconds, her heart begins to race, her hands turn cold and her mind starts imagining the worst — losing her job, damaging her career or facing a public scandal. Half an hour later, she finally opens the email and discovers a simple request for a meeting. The message itself was harmless, but her thoughts had already triggered a powerful stress response.
The Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca identified this tendency nearly 2,000 years ago. In a letter to his friend Lucilius, he wrote, “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” The quote draws a distinction between events that actually happen and the stories people create around uncertain situations.
