It is a cold Saturday afternoon, late November. I am a bit bored and looking for something to do. Our kids are all already entertaining their kids (our grandkids) for the day, and our dog is pacing back and forth in front of the door begging to go outside.
I do not really feel like taking the dog for a walk, nor do I feel like reading a book… or doing much of anything at all. I truly am twiddling my thumbs and have already spent too much time thinking about thinking about things to do, as if there were a deadline to stop doing nothing. It has been gnawing at me for awhile to try and commit to a meditation practice…..every journey begins with but a single step.
I admire my wife’s meditation practice. For her, it is a non-negotiable part of her day. And, by being non-negotiable, meditation simply BECAME part of her day. Her discipline was the commitment to create a good habit. Exercising the discipline then became a reward in and of itself. Conversely, the lack of discipline is an embedded bad habit! Meditation seems to offer more than either a discipline OR a habit. Meditation is like a super consciousness. It is the conscious discovery of the unconscious desire to be a part of the all that is.
Meditation can quiet the discordant noise of living and embrace the harmonies of being alive. For me, I have avoided the effort of creating a meditation practice, and I am not really sure why. I think it may be a fear that my monkey brain, the brain that is unable to stand back and stand down will not allow meditation to work for me. It resonates as a fear that I cannot summon the discipline to practice meditating on a daily basis. This despite my observation of the obvious benefits that my wife achieves, and the mounting evidence that meditation may be THE key to fully appreciating the marvel of ALIVENESS!!
The solution here may feel apparent to you as the reader. JUST DO IT!!! The cost/benefit ratio is hugely in favor of my making a commitment to meditation. The cost is simply to allocate the time and make the commitment. The potential benefits seem innumerable and immeasurable. I have nothing to lose, and everything to gain… which will always be a good gamble. I have determined that tomorrow I start. Slowly, faithfully, daily, committed… I’ll share my findings here...