A Successful Meditation

I’ve met a few so-called yogis who weren’t so yogic in the way they treated others, and a few so-called meatheads who radiated compassion and intelligence. I’ve met sages who were labourers and seen liars masquerading as wise men. I’ve sat in meditation only to realise I was actually sitting in competition with myself, seeking the gratification of feeling disciplined and wise. 

By the way… It was a successful meditation.

That reminds me of another story. 

I went on a tinder date so bad that I ended up walking roughly in the direction of home in the dead of night. I didn’t know the way, and had no phone, but I knew I was staying near a beach. I ended up following the stars through the pitch-black countryside of Cornwall to the coastline almost 14 miles away. It took six hours and it was a cold, spooky night spent trudging through country back-roads. There were no shadows. It was too dark. I treasure the memory, because I learned that even in regret, isolation, disorientation and exhaustion, I could be at home in my own skin. 

It was a successful meditation.

I’ve woken up before the sunrise, in the hours when blood flow to the lungs is highest and the spiritual nectar is ripest. I’ve followed my morning routine, of journaling, reading and intention setting. I’ve sat in calm stillness as the world awakened around me, only to come inside and find myself somehow in a shouting match with my nearest and dearest. The feelings did their work. Annoyance, of anger, of remorse. Hurt; my own and that which I had inflicted…

It was a successful meditation.

Last night, my good friend Richard said, “you are both a being and a becoming” and it reminded me that it isn’t always what we have done that defines our story, but what we make of it, and what we choose to do next.

I wish you many successful meditations.