I hear you. Don't I need to want to be a Zen Master to meditate? Or, my to-do list is already too long and there are so many other things I could be doing with my time besides meditating!
Maybe. But there's also nothing more exhausting or frustrating than working your butt off and not really getting anywhere. Not only do you begin to question yourself, asking, "What's wrong with me?" but you also begin to feel deflated and start losing your self confidence.
If this is happening to you, then you might be in a state of "going all out for it" -- you know, that catchphrase that anyone in the business of really living should surely be doing.
Yes, straining, striving and more often than not struggling. It's the energy of trying and not having. Of pushing and forcing. And it ends up making you want to scream!
The most frustrating part is being so caught up in the doing, creating and performing that you lose sight of what you're trying to achieve and, funnily enough, you end up getting nowhere.
The danger of "going all out for it" is that the essence of it can feel SO good for a time. You hear yourself saying, "Hey, if I'm giving this all I've got then surely I must be getting somewhere!"
But if you're anything like me there's a sneaky fear driving your thinking -- one that says, unless I work really hard ALL of the time I don't deserve to get what I want.
Or perhaps you've also been trying to mask over the lie I told myself for years, that it's wrong for things to be effortless. OK, I'll admit it. I didn't want "let go" of controlling my life, and yes, there were times I lacked the faith that what I wanted could actually be mine and that getting it could be easy.
Well, guess what? Thankfully, I also began noticing the Divine wants things to be easy for us.
Perhaps you have too. Ever realized that when you slow down, for just a little while, you start seeing the obvious? You begin to find easier solutions or road signs pointing you in a new, more groovy direction?
Something else I've also started to get a handle on is that it's much easier to see these things when you create space between your thoughts, hitting the "off switch" on the hamster wheel of your mind. And that's where the beauty of meditation comes in.
If you want to get more done, create more moments of flow, expand your possibilities for inspiration and ingenuity then meditation is your key.
One of the greatest things you can do to cease straining, striving and struggling is to simply stop. Stop thinking, stop working, and stop taking action for a while.
Instead, find a quiet comfy place, stick in a pair of earplugs if that helps, or go for a run and just begin to notice your breath. Focus on breathing in and out -- counting cycles of seven breaths in and out. Then start again.
Meditation need not be any more complicated than that.
When you're able to slow and still your mind like this you'll be able to "allow in" what it is you want and unblock what might be your resistance to receiving.
Meditation, in any form, is a simple way to break up the energy stream of trying. It allows you to notice your intuition guiding you, and you'll be able to see situations from a fresh perspective instead of focusing too much on the path your ego has decided is right for you or the outcome you're insisting is the only successful one.
As woo-woo as it first might feel and as clever as we think we are, the Divine might just have a better plan for us!
Meditation teaches us it's possible to create the life we want, or even better, by getting our self out of the way.