Today is the 500th day in a row that I’ve meditated. To celebrate, I’d like to share five hundred things I’ve learned:
- There are infinite ways to meditate: I like guided mindfulness meditation, but there’s no end of things to try if you’re interested.
- It’s always useful, even when it feels like it isn’t: Some days are more productive than others. That’s true for everything in life, not just meditation.
- You get distracted a lot: Even on the best of days, my thoughts will wander. I used think this was a failing, but it’s not. It’s just human nature. The trick is to smoothly shift back into the meditation as soon as you realize you’ve been blown off course.1
- Keep your expectations realistic: Since my goal is to be a bit more happy, kind, and calm, meditation works. If my goal were to reach nirvana, I’d have demanded my money back by now.
- I need more stuff to achieve inner enlightenment: The space coyote told me so.
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1 Noting and labeling are helpful when this happens.
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Header image: Mural by Subway Doodle on Troutman Street in Brooklyn, New York.