When the ‘One’ thing turned out to be nothing at all.
I think I’ve always been looking for that one thing. One simple action that I could take that would precipitate a cascade of positive events, and ultimately end up changing my life for the better.
I hunted for it for many years, believing that there was something I could do, some new technique that would bring all my hopes and dreams to fruition.
And as seems to be the case fairly often, I was pretty significantly wrong.
Not that there wasn’t one thing – oh no. There definitely was a thing. It was just that I tried doing all sorts of things, and some of them ended up being helpful, but they simply weren’t the one.
Getting up early in the morning, trying different ways to be organized, leveraging positive motivation, threatening negative motivation. All of them have their place at certain times, but none of them were the one thing.
Because it turned out that the thing was actually nothing at all.
The greatest thing that turned out to be the one thing was trying to do nothing, and most importantly think ‘nothing’. I was surprised when I discovered that the key to becoming more productive, better focused, happier and more connected to my inner self and the world around me was to try resting my mind in a state of calm relaxation, and just allowing my soul to drift.
Which is a lot more difficult than it sounds.
The practice of meditation is so old that no one really knows when it started. There are many different styles, practices and teachers, which is life’s way of telling us that there’s no ‘right or wrong way’. You get to decide what works for you. All you have to do it just do it, which is doing nothing. With all the noise, distractions and opportunities around us, it takes a little bit of willpower to get started…
But once you begin, everything starts to change.
Meditation will challenge you, and at first really frustrate you. Finding a point of balance in your mind takes much more focus than you can imagine. Upon starting my meditation practice, my normally creative and hyperactive mind rebelled hard.
Guess what – it’s still doing that. I still struggle to maintain a balance, that moment of eternal calm and being present that lifts up my soul and allows me to transcend my weaknesses.
But the really wonderful thing about meditation is even just trying brings its own rewards.
As I sit in silence, or with music to guide me, I find a greater perspective on my trials and troubles. My willpower increases, as I am able to reinforce hopes and dreams and actually execute on them in the real world.
I can visualize desired outcomes and invite the universe to participate with me, holding the emotion of gratitude at the forefront of my soul, allowing the energy to resonate out into wherever it goes.
And most of all, I can feel my soul being refreshed and comforted.
If you’ve never tried meditation, I humbly ask you to give it a try. If you’ve tried it before and given up, may I invite you to go back and try it again.
If your practice is intermittent, may you find the space in your world to increase your frequency, and if you practice it every day, may you share that with a friend, and bring a greater harmony into the world.
The purpose of meditation is really to quiet your mind, so you can better discover who you are.
May you find peace in your soul, today and always.
— Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings