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You send an email. No reply yet. That is all it takes for a personal review meeting to begin in your head. Was the wording wrong? Did you upset someone? They might simply be eating lunch, while your meeting already has four items on the agenda.
You think a little preparation will help you feel calmer. Instead, the more you think, the less settled you feel. Here is a line to read with a little breathing room on a day like that.
You do not have to carry events that have not happened
we suffer more often in imagination than in reality.
Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 13, section 4. Translated by Richard Mott Gummere; excerpt.
In this letter, Seneca considers fears about difficulties that have not yet arrived. This need not become a way of dismissing every worry as imaginary. We can read it instead as an invitation to separate what is happening now from what might happen later.
The fact takes one line. The imagined story becomes a novel
With the email, the fact is simply: no reply has arrived. Whether the person is busy, checking something, or dissatisfied remains unknown. Yet in your head, you can practically hear them sighing. Imagination is a useful ability. Sometimes its production values are a little too high.
Try dividing a note into two parts: what you know, and what you do not yet know. If there is a deadline for the reply, add it, along with a time to follow up. Rather than trying to erase every imagined scenario, choosing one next action may feel more manageable.
Of course, a problem that is actually happening may need action or support. You do not have to use this quotation to minimize a difficult experience. If anxiety is keeping you awake, you do not have to dismiss it as mere overthinking or bear it alone.
Let the evidence arrive before the review meeting
Choose just one concern and ask: is this something I have confirmed? If it remains unknown, you can leave it unknown for now. If there is a useful check to make, make that check. You do not have to hand the rest of your day over to a future problem.
While you wait, make some tea. Finish one task in front of you. Perhaps the personal review meeting can wait until an actual agenda arrives.
Share a phrase that has helped you feel a little lighter through our Words from Everyone submission page (Japanese-language page).
Source and interpretation
Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 13, section 4, translated by Richard Mott Gummere. The quotation above reproduces an excerpt from that English translation. The Japanese companion article uses our own Japanese translation of the excerpt. The email and note-taking examples are this article’s applications, not examples given by Seneca.
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Editorial notes — remove before publication
Day 1, English companion to Japanese draft ID 409. Tags, mood links, and featured image are not set. Featured-image concept: warm ivory background, an envelope and a steaming cup on a desk; quotation as the focus, with Seneca and The Power of Words. Image generation has not been performed. Verify quotation, links, and mobile layout; remove this editorial section before publication. Do not publish or schedule without separate approval.