Choose to Take the Journey

In anticipation of writing this post, I sat in meditation for 20 minutes to approximate as closely as possible a mental state of being present in the moment. Although I think the best way to demonstrate such a mental state is face-to-face, I still think the choice of my words and the cadence of my language will convey it to you on some level. I am no expert in matters of spiritual enlightenment nor do I care to be, but I believe that everyone can benefit from meditation and meditation-like activities. Meditation is simply a process of becoming present in the moment.

Modern life carries with it no shortage of stimulating and exciting things to partake of. In addition to the stresses of rent, bills, student loans, noise, traffic, pollution, bloated bureaucracies, and unneeded complexities, there are the titillations of dating, facebook, youtube, shopping, endless entertainment and unlimited opportunities for consumption. But even hummingbirds need to sleep. There will always be new demands pulling you into the future and old memories pulling you back into the past. Like a koi pond that is constantly being stirred up, to make heads or tails of the chaos around you, you have to remain still long enough for the motion to dissipate. This is the purpose of meditation.

Rather than suppressing stressful thoughts through boozing and binging, or escaping from them through distraction and diversion, you can instead allow the mind to slip into calmness and see clearly the thoughts that float by, like slow-moving fish, and handle them one by one by one. Food will taste better, nature will appear more wondrous, human achievement more remarkable, and yes, even the sex will be better.

Some people can attain a meditative state through rhythmic, repetitive motions like dancing, jogging, swimming, or even washing dishes. However, because of the natural human tendency to always desire more, you may instead find your thoughts preoccupied with impressing your dance partner or dialing up the intensity of your workout. That is why the best meditative activity is, of course, meditation itself. I won’t go into how to do it because I think there are plenty of great resources out there that can teach it more effectively than I could, but here are a couple of tips that I find key to making it work. First, maintain a singular point of focus, whether visual, verbal (such as a phrase), or physical; it doesn’t matter. Second, maintain an attitude of non-judgment about how well you are doing that allows you to return to your point of focus without exertion. It may seem like a ridiculous waste of your time in the beginning, but keep with it and you’ll find, as I have, that you will be sharper, wittier, happier, more resourceful, more charismatic, and more attractive, just as all people are when they are present in the moment.