Stillness and meditation
In the steps of our program, step 11 is where we seek through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will and the power to carry that out. But how does one meditate in a society like ours today? In the book The Gifts of Imperfection, the author talks about what stillness and meditation really are all about. I always thought that with meditation we needed to be sitting Indian style in a quiet room with candles lit and be able to clear our minds completely. But that's just not possible as we are human after all and especially in the world that we live in today. Clutter and noise moves throughout our minds like it's nothing, just a part of our daily routine. But she says to be easier and softer with ourselves. It's not about focusing on absolutely nothing and being rid of everything that comes in our mind. It's just being willing to try to free up some of that clutter. The other interesting thing that she talks about is so many of us actually don't want to do this because as soon as we finally sit still and stop moving than the truth will catch up to us.. The truth about ourselves. When we stay busy enough we don't have to look at ourselves like that. But once we actually choose to sit down and have a second and try to open our minds, there's no telling what we might find. Maybe scary but surely magical and eye-opening all at the same time. I want to find out about myself. I want to understand how I tick and how to navigate this world effectively. Whether it's looking at the good sides of me or the maybe not so good sides that I could work on. And that's hard to do because most of us don't want to look at that. But just for today I will try to slow down and just be... Be in the stillness. How do you meditate?