“Happiness is not a possession to be prized; it is a quality of thought, a state of mind” – Daphne du Maurier

The stories we tell ourselves are the most significant cause of our unhappiness. Unhappy events do occur and rightfully cause distress, but we tend to allow this distress to live on for countless hours, days, and years within our minds. We are causing our suffering and even letting it seep into our closest relationships, causing those people to relive our misery. I learned about this tendency years ago and was eager to find a way to change my narrative and, in essence, stop the B movie reruns.  This is when I discovered meditation.

“Meditation is a mental exercise that trains attention and awareness. Its purpose is often to curb reactivity to one’s negative thoughts and feelings, which, though they may be disturbing and upsetting and hijack attention from moment to moment, are invariably fleeting.” – Psychology Today

Some interesting meditation facts:

• It has been practiced for thousands of years
• It can help with anxiety, high blood pressure, depression, and chronic pain
• Its positive impact has long-lasting effects
• It can be done anywhere and at any time

Meditation: Take a stress-reduction break wherever you are – Mayo Clinic

My practice started with 5 minutes each morning. I would sit quietly and draw my mind back to my breathing each time it wandered. Initially, this wandering lasted for about 5 minutes during each 5 minutes! This got me curious: if this was true on a micro-5-minute scale, what would that mean on a macro-24-hour scale? Was I living almost entirely in random made-up stories?  Yes, I believe I was!  Now that that realization was out of the way, it was time to see if meditation would genuinely have an impact. I kept my daily practice of 5 minutes for about three months, at which time I increased the sessions to 15 minutes.

 Two things emerged from these minimal time commitments. Firstly, my mind-wandering detection muscle was getting stronger and activated outside my formal sessions. I started an informal practice of noticing the wandering and returning my mind to the task. Basic things became more enjoyable, and down periods began to subside. Secondly, the peaceful presence I experienced during my formal practice now overflowed into my daily life, so even though I ceased the practice at 15 minutes, I continued to feel the benefits long afterward.

I now meditate daily for 30 minutes, but I am trying to evolve from “doing” meditation to living in a place of presence throughout my life.

“In today’s rush, we all think too much, seek too much, want too much, and forget about the joy of just being.” – Eckhart Tolle