How Meditation Made a Powerful Positive Change in Me

Summary

The author describes how meditation has transformed their life by enabling them to manage their reactions and actions, leading to more positive interactions and personal satisfaction.

Abstract

Prior to adopting meditation, the author admits to frequently responding to situations with negative emotions such as anger, envy, and fear. Meditation has since provided them with the ability to examine and control their responses, allowing for more thoughtful and genuine interactions. The author emphasizes that this practice results in leaving others happier and themselves with less regret. Despite concerns that this approach might seem unnatural or calculated, the author finds it rewarding and believes their feelings, thoughts, and expressions will eventually harmonize. They credit meditation with altering their brain to facilitate this change and express gratitude for discovering it, albeit later in life.

Opinions

The author believes that meditation has given them the power to choose their reactions and actions, leading to more positive outcomes.
They feel that the ability to manage their responses has made them a source of happiness for others and reduced their own feelings of regret.
The author does not regret the loss of spontaneity, as they experience peace and satisfaction from their modified responses.
There is a conviction that their emotional and cognitive states will naturally align over time due to the continued practice of meditation.
The author considers themselves fortunate to have found meditation, suggesting that starting earlier in life could have been even more beneficial.
They recommend meditation to others, hinting at its broader benefits by providing links to additional stories on the topic.

It came late to me but has been totally worth it

Image courtesy brenkee on pixabay

Before I started meditating, there was hardly any guarantee of how I would react to people and situations. Or I should admit there was a guarantee — I would most likely respond the wrong way. Anger, envy, selfishness, fear, jealousy, irritation, greed, self-pity….there was no repressing them from emerging at the drop of a hat, i.e., with every interaction or event. The same went for my intended actions. My baser instincts guided a number of them.

What meditation is doing for me is allowing me to hold, examine and manage my reactions and actions before they emerge. In some instances, I can now pick what I allow out. Depending on the person, event, and history, I may choose to let the original (re)action out, dampen it, conceal it, or do the opposite. I then deal with the consequence of the choice in the same way.

Less often, what used to happen earlier doesn’t even begin and what the world sees is what I genuinely feel. Either way, I am satisfied that I leave happier people around me and less regret within me.

I know this may seem unnatural, mechanical and dry. It may look like I am eliminating all spontaneity and spirit from my character. But two points support my belief in this path. First, I experience peace and satisfaction after every successful intervention and rarely second guess or regret the modification or outcome. The second is my conviction that most of my feelings, thoughts, and expressions will synchronise one day.

Meditation especially works for the latter ability, altering my still plastic brain. So I am lucky to have discovered it, even if later in life than I should have.

If you are interested in meditation, you can check out the other stories below in this series.

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The Powerful Positive Change Meditation Made In Me

It came late to me but has been totally worth it

Meditate to Take Your Brain to the Gym!

How meditation strengthens our mind and self-control.

Reflections on Meditation — I — How Does it Help Us?

The value of meditation.

Reflections on Meditation — II — What is Its Ideal State of Mind?

Empty? Focused on something? Filled with light?

Reflections on Meditation — III — How to Get it Right

Techniques and tips from my experience.

How Meditation Made a Powerful Positive Change in Me

It came late to me but has been totally worth it.