Ice Heart

So much snow and ice here.  I was walking the other day and did that thing where I tensed all of my muscles to try and not fall.   In the moment, I didn't think about anything other than staying upright.  But later when I was not "being careful" and just randomly slipped and half-fell, I realized how walking so tensely was more painful/uncomfortable than the half-fall out of nowhere.  Which got me thinking about how drunk drivers don't get as injured as non-drunk drivers in car accidents.  Which got me wondering if there's a psychological correlation as well.  Does bracing ourselves for pain in-and-of-itself make everything hurt more?  Is attempting to protect yourself the difference between becoming jaded and being happy?