The Shift: Meditating for the Right Reasons

Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
~ Buddha

For over 40 years, meditation has been a constant companion in my life. But for most of that time, I held it with a tight grip—viewing it as a tool to banish what I didn’t want to feel. I sat in silence trying to erase the tension in my body, hush the noise in my mind, and sweep emotion under the carpet.

In hindsight, I wasn’t meditating with my experience. I was meditating against it.

It took the unplanned space that followed the end of my working life to open another door. The pace slowed; urgency dropped away. And in that space, I began practicing differently.

Not to escape. But to stay.
Not to fix. But to listen.
Not to transcend experience, but to lean gently toward it.

The shift hasn’t happened overnight, but it’s there, and it’s ongoing. Now, my practice isn’t about getting rid of anything—it’s about making room for whatever arises, without resistance.

There’s an emerging peace in not needing to shape the present moment into something more pleasant. There’s freedom in allowing what is, without trying to reshape it.

Sometimes we begin for one reason and keep going for another. And that’s okay. The practice doesn’t mind. It welcomes us back whenever we’re ready to stop striving—and start simply being.