Wiser by Day
Quieting Worry · Lesson 1 of 6 · Free
Notice the rehearsal
Notice the mind rehearsing, shrink the future to the size of this minute, and come back to what is in front of you.
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Welcome. Worry is the mind rehearsing a future that hasn't happened. Over six short days, we'll practise noticing the rehearsal and coming back to now. Today, we only notice.
As a fletcher makes straight his arrow, a wise man makes straight his trembling and unsteady thought, which is difficult to guard, difficult to hold back.Traditionally attributed to the Buddha · Dhammapada, verse 33
F. Max Müller, 1881
The Dhammapada compares a trembling thought to an arrow that needs straightening. It doesn't say the thought is bad. It says it's unsteady, and that steadying it is a craft, like a fletcher's. The first piece of that craft is simply seeing when the mind has left the room. Worry usually speaks in what-ifs and then-I'll-have-tos. When you hear those words, you've caught it. No fixing is needed yet. Noticing is the whole job today.
Try it for yourself
A short reflection
Sit comfortably and let your attention rest on your breathing. Wait for your mind to run ahead, to tomorrow, next week, a conversation that hasn't happened. When you notice it, silently say: rehearsing. Then return to the breath. Don't scold yourself for leaving. Each time you catch it counts as a success. Take three minutes.
One question to write about
In a sentence or two: what was your mind rehearsing?
You can reflect without writing. Nothing you think or write on this page is collected.
Recording transcript
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Welcome. Worry is the mind rehearsing a future that hasn't happened. Over six short days, we'll practise noticing the rehearsal and coming back to now. Today, we only notice. From the Dhammapada, a collection of early Buddhist verses, in Max Müller's translation of 1881. As a fletcher makes straight his arrow, a wise man makes straight his trembling and unsteady thought, which is difficult to guard, difficult to hold back. Traditionally attributed to the Buddha, Dhammapada, verse 33. The Dhammapada compares a trembling thought to an arrow that needs straightening. It doesn't say the thought is bad. It says it's unsteady, and that steadying it is a craft, like a fletcher's. The first piece of that craft is simply seeing when the mind has left the room. Worry usually speaks in what-ifs and then-I'll-have-tos. When you hear those words, you've caught it. No fixing is needed yet. Noticing is the whole job today. Sit comfortably and let your attention rest on your breathing. Wait for your mind to run ahead, to tomorrow, next week, a conversation that hasn't happened. When you notice it, silently say: rehearsing. Then return to the breath. Don't scold yourself for leaving. Each time you catch it counts as a success. Take three minutes. In a sentence or two: what was your mind rehearsing?