The Simple Story that Taught Me How to Meditate
And why it’s okay to let go of the outcome
If you’ve ever taken a turn down the wrong street, missed an exit ramp, or descended onto the opposing subway platform, you know how easy it is to do — and how easy it is to fix, despite the momentary frustration.
I’d been trying to meditate for what felt like a decade. In reality, it’d only been 6 months, but when something feels hard, my sense of time could get lapped by a snail. And meditation felt hard. Like causing me stress instead of relieving it, kinda hard.
I (intellectually) knew that the basic idea of meditation was to focus on the here and now and bring myself back to the center when distracted. But when the timer would ding, I’d be miles down the path without ever having turned around.
It seemed like no matter what I did, it all felt like…well, a waste of time. I wasn’t aware. I was ruminating and just winding my thoughts tighter and tighter. And I was seriously questioning whether I was constitutionally incapable of practicing one of the most popular and scientifically proven ways to re-wire your brain.
Seeking Solutions
So I searched and tried harder, despite it being an approach that rarely turns out well for me.
