“All of man’s difficulties are caused by his inability to sit, quietly, in a room by himself.” —Blaise Pascal
The life worth living is one centered on the passions and values we hold most dear. And that is why solitude and meditation matters.
Many people go through life with no clear sense of their true values. Instead, their lives are molded by the voices that bombard them each day from the Internet, television, radio, magazines, and celebrities. Their desires are ever-changing and are quickly swept away by the newest fashion, most recent technology, or opportunity for financial gain. Their lives are no longer centered on their personal passions and values.
In contrast, firm conviction leads to an intentional life. It is not tossed about by the culture. It is built on the things you hold truest in your heart. And no new advertising campaign is able to shake it.
Meditation provides the opportunity to find that conviction. It slows our mind, calms our spirit, and centers our soul. It removes our mind from the culture of consumption that surrounds us and centers us on something greater and more fulfilling. It draws us out of the finiteness of the visible and dares to connect our souls with the invisible. It provides opportunity to identify our desires, articulate our values, and align our pursuits accordingly.
In quiet and solitude, our mind gravitates towards the more important things—the most valuable. Rarely, in times of meditation, do we dream of nicer cars, bigger closets, larger wardrobes, or more expensive watches. Instead, we naturally focus on our souls, our families, our friends, our health, our significance, and our greatest ambitions.
Another benefit of meditation is that it leads to gratitude. Gratitude leads to contentment. And a contented heart is free to pursue anything it desires.
Unfortunately, we live in a culture that preaches discontent. A society built on the foundation of consumerism must attack gratitude—only if they can sow discontent in our lives can they sell us on their new product or latest version with new improvements. But those who find gratitude in their current existence will be less influenced by those empty promises.
A grateful heart admits that there are bigger forces at play in our lives than our own accomplishments and that we are who we are today because of the sacrifice and investment of others. Gratitude grounds us and focuses our lives on others.
It is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy. (tweet that)
And that gratefulness quickly leads to a satisfied, simplified, focused life. More meditation. More gratitude. Better living.
Begin your own practice of meditation.
Find a quiet moment. Choose a time of day that provides opportunity for a quiet moment without distraction. This may be in the morning before your family wakes up, in the evening after they go to bed, or at some point in-between (during a lunch break, before the workday begins, or while your new baby naps). Choose a time of day that is repeatable.
Find a quiet place. Meditation can happen anywhere, but a quiet place is always best. Evaluate your surroundings for not just noise clutter, but mental clutter as well. For example, if you find it difficult to slow your mind in a messy room or in the office where you work, relocate yourself elsewhere.
Find a quiet mind. The most difficult part of meditation is learning to quiet yourself. At first, your mind will not know what to do with the silence and will fill the void with restless activity. Sometimes you need to ignore the distraction. Focus on your breathing. But other times, you’ll need to pursue the voice fighting for your attention. Over time, you’ll quickly learn the difference.
Set aside a few minutes. If you have never meditated before, start small—even 5 minutes can be very significant. If you can meditate longer, do it. I find new waves of thought to resurface every 10 minutes with each revealing a deeper level of heart evaluation.
Introduce any specific spiritual components. Regardless of your spiritual beliefs, meditation holds rich benefit for your life. But if your spirituality is important to you, you may find value including specific elements in your meditation: prayer and/or sacred texts, for example.
Just like every endeavor, meditation takes time and practice. So don’t get frustrated at first. And don’t get down on yourself if you miss a day. Just try again tomorrow—or for the first time.
About Joshua Becker
Beautiful reminder to find the quiet in this noisy, busy time of year. It’s tempting to think I don’t have time to stop and just breathe. But if I can spend five or ten minutes mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, I believe I can take that time and instead quiet my mind and go within. Thank you so much for my next five minutes of quiet. :)
I totally agree with this article! I started doing yin yoga a few months ago. Little by little my loud and noisy mind has slowed down. Though I have to admit it’s a struggle for me, and the noise in my head doesn’t stop. But I’ve learned to be more conscious of it and not allow it to own me! My journey to a quieter, minimal, simple life has just begun. But I’m already harvesting fruits of it! And I love the it! ?
A few book recommendations for those who practice Christian meditation from Carl McColman: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carl-mccolman/ten-recommended-books-on-_b_6052998.html
I would also recommend Carl’s writing on the subject. He is too modest to include his own work in the list, but I have found his writing to be helpful.
Lately, I have been taking time a few days a week to practice mindfulness and I have been so pleased with how much better I feel. I have even had moments of clarity and decisiveness on issues where I had been quite conflicted. I look forward to more practice at it just for the ability to clear out the noose for a dew minutes each day.
Joshua, do you meditate?
“Find a quiet mind. The most difficult part of meditation is learning to quiet yourself. ” – this is completely wrong, especially for beginners. You shouldn’t quiet yourself (I believe it is not possible for many people), but watch and acknowledge your thoughts. Just imagine, that you have some shelves in your head, if some thought pop up, you say thanks for a great thought and put them aside into an imaginary shelf. You learn to control your thoughts, calm down yourself, stop being anxious an so on. Meditation is not about being quiet. It about being aware and mindful.
If you want to dig deeper, I recommend http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Miracle_of_Mindfulness
P.S. Joshua, I find your blog very inspiring, you have changed my views on living, raising children, shopping, eating, spending my free time in a many great ways. Thank you!
Thanks for your texts, all of them are awesome! I’d like to say that every morning I do something I call introspection: I close my eyes and I observe what I am thinking about that moment. I do it about 20 minutes. I don’t argue with my thoughts, I just observe. I do it everyday, disciplinate introspection…some times it’s difficult understanding meditation, and for me introspection is too simple and helps me a lot, I can open my mind and I pay attention to my insights during the day. Sorry for my mistakes in grammar, my English is not perfect! Thanks for reading me, thank so much!
This has got to be one of my favorite posts so far, even tthough I find them all brilliant! As a primary school child i meditated unknowingly, and utilised these skills throughout my life. Unfortunately, due to my naivety in youth, I fell into a trap as deceit which stripped my core being and inner peace away. Over time i have reclaimed my core self. This post is fantastic for reminding me on what’s important and how to reclaim my inner peace.
From the age of five I discovered silence in laying on my back in the grass looking at the sky. I never lost this feeling. It is the start for my meditation wherever I am.
To sit in silence is one of life’s greatest gifts. Thank-you for the article Joshua.
John is so great at this, but I really struggle to find times of quiet. I loved what our pastor shared last Sunday: that we are to SEEK rest, or we won’t find it. It’s so true with how busy and loud life can become. Thanks for sharing, Joshua!
During the past two years I have become more in tune with myself. I owe it to yoga. It is a wonderful practice where I can forget about everything else and focus only on me. I believe meditation is key to bringing a peaceful harmony to your life. Thank you for this wonderful post.
I know someone who is obsessed with material thing; money in particular. They feel entitled to get as much money as possible, and the means they use to achieve their goal is negotiable. People are seen merely as tools to get more “free” money.
The problem of living like this is that they are always dissatisfied. Always angry and vengeful whenever they perceive that someone is blocking access to whatever they feel entitled to.
Their life is a vicious cycle of greed, discontent, dissatisfaction, anger and revenge.
Lovely Joshua.
There is a beautiful Zen quote that says, “Life is meditation, if you allow it to be”….. It is sometimes to easy to focus on the word meditation and the process thereof and what it is suppose to be.
Another excellent post Joshua. “Gratitude leads to contentment. And a contented heart is free to pursue anything it desires.” So true.
Awesome article. I think of meditation like slowing down a train — everything becomes much clearer when we’re not flying through life.
Silence and gratitude are truly amazing. Recently I have been following what Mark Divine of “Sealfit” recommended. In the morning you meditate and then afterwards you guzzle some water and as you do so you think of all the things you are grateful for. Sounds simple, but it is very effective and can have a profound effect on how you feel
I have been struggling to find the meditation that is right for me. I literally got ahold of “Meditation For Dummies” (blush) for suggestions. It has been helpful and has great ideas, but does anyone have a suggestion for how they started out? Thanks.
5 Things to Do in 5 Minutes to Prevent YOU from Shopping
http://awellstockedlife.wordpress.com/2014/01/13/5-things-to-do-in-5-minutes__to-prevent-you-from-shopping/
I started when a friend introduced me to Eknath Easwaran’s ‘Passage Meditation’ and have continued using it. Like all forms of meditation, it is not easy in the beginning, simply because meditation is usually not easy at first for most people. But with perseverance, it is well worth the effort! Easwaran developed an 8 Point Program (Passage Meditation) to deepen the spiritual life. Don’t be put off by the 8 points. Many of us are already doing most of them. But putting them all together is really powerful and has been a life-changer for me. Just Google ‘Eknath Easwaran Passage Meditation’ or look up his book on Amazon or B&N to get more information. Meditation is so important to the intentional life and offers all the benefits Joshua writes about above. Don’t wait! You’ll never regret making meditation part of your life!
Have you mastered sitting still yet? Two minutes. Then two minutes with a quiet mind. Let us know where you are.
This seems to be a on time post! I’ve recently slowed down due to Holidays and Winter weather, so I’m finding that if I’m quiet first, then speak, it makes the situation go much better. And just like a bear, we need to hybernate during cold weather. lol
Some people almost fear silence, which is a shame. Silence can be golden and so refreshing.
All the best Jan
I love silence. As someone who grew up in the mountains, with little city noise, I cherish the sound of nothing.
Wish I would have known this years before when my little, anxious mind was overwhelmed by bad circumstances and messed up. Now I do meditation at least twice a day and it quietens the mind very quickly. On the other hand, it would also be useful not to be exposed to too much distractions (maybe avoid TV/radio) during the course of the day, so the mind can keep calm. Meditation helps to establish contact and to keep in touch with the observer in us, the being, the inner power that fuels everything and is always there.
I started meditating when I was a teenager and stopped right after I got married and had kids and realize how important it is to meditate because it gives me peace of mind and remind me that life should not always in a hurry. And doing what I used to do gives me more meaningful life
I’m still just starting out, and the skeptic in me keeps getting in the way from time to time, any remedy for this or does time do away with it?
I have been meditating with a Buddhist group for 16 years and still deal with the unquiet mind.
accept the unquiet mind, to fight against it makes it more unquiet. Just except it and let it go. Focus on your quiet mind.
Isaiah 26:3 God will keep you in perfect peace when your mind is fixed on Him, because you trust in Him.
Ask God in faith for His help and He will do miracles to help you create and be blessed in your quiet time.
The world yells and we answer. Thanks for the reminder to be still (and for taking away the wall between meditation and prayer).