The Second Arrow Philosophy
Posted on June 30, 2022 by Aasiyah Ali, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
In life, sometimes things we'd rather didn't happen do happen.
There’s a saying in Eastern philosophy that goes like this…
“Don’t let the arrow hit you twice”.
Here’s what it means…
We cannot control the world.
In life, sometimes things we’d rather didn’t happen do happen.
An undesired external event – that’s the first arrow hitting us.
The second arrow only hits us if we use our thoughts in a negative way about the external event.
“This shouldn’t be happening…I hate this…my luck is always awful”.
That would be an example of the second arrow.
The first arrow creates a situation…
…the second arrow causes suffering.
And there’s a difference.
We can’t control the first arrow…
…whereas we have more control over the second arrow – our thoughts about the situation.
It’s not that we control the thoughts.
It’s that we don’t pay them much attention when they arise.
Like clouds passing in the sky we let them come in…and go out…without latching onto them.
And that makes the external event much, much easier to deal with…
As well as often making the external event pass much, much quicker than it would have done if you’d internally battled with it.
So when an undesired situation arises in your life…
Don’t let the second arrow hit you.
