Wiser by Day
Leaving the Past · Lesson 1 of 6 · Free
Notice the rerun
Notice old scenes replaying, take the lesson, pardon yourself, and let the rest go.
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Listen to Notice the rerun
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Read the recording transcriptThe lesson
Welcome. Some regrets are small and ordinary: a sharp word, a missed chance, a message you wish you hadn't sent. Over six short days, we'll practise holding them more lightly. Today, we simply notice when an old scene is running again.
In the next place remember that neither the future nor the past pains thee, but only the present.Marcus Aurelius · Meditations, 8.36
George Long, 1862
Marcus makes a plain observation. The event itself is over. What hurts is happening now: the tightness, the thoughts, the retelling. That's good news, because the present is small enough to look at. Today we don't fix or judge the old moment. We only notice when it's being run again, and quietly label it: rerun.
Try it for yourself
A short reflection
Think of one small regret from the last few weeks. Nothing heavy. Notice where you feel it right now, in your chest, your jaw or your stomach, and how big it really is, here. Each time your mind runs the scene again, silently say: rerun. Then come back to your breath. If anything feels like too much, you can stop at any time. Take three minutes.
One question to write about
In a sentence: what was the rerun, and where did you feel it now?
You can reflect without writing. Nothing you think or write on this page is collected.
Recording transcript
This text follows the recorded narration. Source credits for the quoted passage appear above.
Welcome. Some regrets are small and ordinary: a sharp word, a missed chance, a message you wish you hadn't sent. Over six short days, we'll practise holding them more lightly. Today, we simply notice when an old scene is running again. From Marcus Aurelius's private notebook, the Meditations, in George Long's translation of 1862. In the next place remember that neither the future nor the past pains thee, but only the present. Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.36. Marcus makes a plain observation. The event itself is over. What hurts is happening now: the tightness, the thoughts, the retelling. That's good news, because the present is small enough to look at. Today we don't fix or judge the old moment. We only notice when it's being run again, and quietly label it: rerun. Think of one small regret from the last few weeks. Nothing heavy. Notice where you feel it right now, in your chest, your jaw or your stomach, and how big it really is, here. Each time your mind runs the scene again, silently say: rerun. Then come back to your breath. If anything feels like too much, you can stop at any time. Take three minutes. In a sentence: what was the rerun, and where did you feel it now? That's enough for today. Tomorrow, we ask what a regret is really for.