To answer your specific question: high balances (like your $10K) do hurt. Not a lot, and it depends on other factors, but they do. There is nothing in your credit report that tells FICO that you are paying in full every month. So, as far as FICO is concerned, your pattern of charging $10K every month and paying it in full looks no different than having charged $10K long time ago and now struggling with a minimum payment every month. Again, it’s no big deal (maybe 10-20 FICO points or so), but, if those points make a difference to you, you’d be better off keeping lower balances and using your debit cards more often.
