A Closed Loop

While I was meditating today, I got an image of a chain of elephants, each one using its trunk to hold the tail of the elephant in front of it. I don't know where that image came from - I don't think I've ever seen it in my life. It sounds like something they train circus elephants to do. Anyway, as I was mentally repeating, "I must use my life to practice Dharma," this elephant image suggested to me to try to keep a link between the last word "Dharma" and the first word "I," so that my mind didn't wander off in other directions. I went from imagining the elephants in a chain, to the words in a chain, then to the words as a circle. I told myself it was a closed loop, which meant it was less possible for my mind to get distracted elsewhere. I found that helpful.

I imagine at some point, you lose the words and your mind just becomes the determination, but I never hear meditators talk about this, and I don't really know. I'm doing well if I can hold onto the words and keep paying attention to their meaning

It occurred to me that worry can be like this - there's some (unwanted) phrase that keeps repeating itself in your head.
When I worry, I find it easier to change the object of worry than to simply drop the worrying. For example, if I start to worry about running out of money, I keep the feeling but substitute a Dharma thought, such as being reborn as a pig. For some reason that switch is easier for me to make.
I read that "worrying is like praying for something you don't want." : )