"Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere"
About this Quote
It lands because it treats anxiety like bad cardio: lots of motion, no mileage. As an athlete, Glenn Turner isn’t offering a therapist’s metaphor; he’s giving a locker-room diagnostic in plain language, the kind that cuts through overthinking the way practice cuts through nerves. A rocking chair is almost comically busy. You can see the effort, even admire the stamina, yet the destination never changes. That visual is the point: worrying performs productivity without producing progress.
The intent is corrective, not comforting. Turner reframes worry as a kind of self-deception we indulge because it feels responsible. The subtext is blunt: if your mind is spinning, you’re not preparing; you’re stalling. In sports, that distinction matters. Pre-game jitters can be sharpened into focus, but rumination is dead weight - energy spent rehearsing failure instead of training, adjusting, or recovering. The quote quietly celebrates agency: there are actions that move you forward, and there are habits that mimic action while keeping you stuck.
Culturally, the line fits an athlete’s worldview where results are measurable and time is scarce. It also works beyond the field because modern worry often disguises itself as diligence - doomscrolling as “staying informed,” catastrophizing as “planning ahead.” The rocking chair image punctures that moral alibi. It doesn’t promise that action cures uncertainty; it insists that motion without direction isn’t virtue. In a noise-heavy world, it’s a lean reminder: trade anxious movement for deliberate steps.
The intent is corrective, not comforting. Turner reframes worry as a kind of self-deception we indulge because it feels responsible. The subtext is blunt: if your mind is spinning, you’re not preparing; you’re stalling. In sports, that distinction matters. Pre-game jitters can be sharpened into focus, but rumination is dead weight - energy spent rehearsing failure instead of training, adjusting, or recovering. The quote quietly celebrates agency: there are actions that move you forward, and there are habits that mimic action while keeping you stuck.
Culturally, the line fits an athlete’s worldview where results are measurable and time is scarce. It also works beyond the field because modern worry often disguises itself as diligence - doomscrolling as “staying informed,” catastrophizing as “planning ahead.” The rocking chair image punctures that moral alibi. It doesn’t promise that action cures uncertainty; it insists that motion without direction isn’t virtue. In a noise-heavy world, it’s a lean reminder: trade anxious movement for deliberate steps.
Quote Details
| Topic | Anxiety |
|---|---|
| Source | Verified source: Life is Like a Rocking Chair (International English Edition) (Oliver Meidl, 2025)ISBN: 9783991392507 · ID: 3x9BEQAAQBAJ
Evidence: ... Worrying is like a rocking chair , it gives you something to do , but it gets you nowhere , « the New Zealand cricketer Glenn Turner observed . When we are in crisis mode , we find support through trusting in God , and in the ... Other candidates (1) Elvis Presley (Glenn Turner) compilation41.0% morning i got up to go but elvis said wait i want to give you something he went into the bedroom and came |
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