One Thousand Meditations
Crushing an Unfeasible Goal
I discovered meditation about eight years ago. If you want to learn about how it entered my life, check out this short story:
2022 brought a heaping spoonful of growth into my life. It came at a particularly chaotic time for me — the need for balance was apparent. In September of 2021, an unrelenting appetite for habits began rumbling in my stomach. I started with an affirmation meditation podcast as part of my morning routine.
September was a big deal because my family was finally holding a funeral service for my grandmother, who died in my parents’ living room while on hospice in May of 2020. Additionally, I was working 50 hours a week, and needless to say, I wasn’t loving it. A week away from the service, I came home to my mother under a frantic spell. My father was having his second heart attack and the ambulance had just left our house.
Luckily, we didn’t need to plan a double header funeral. The last bit of chaos came when I received an opportunity for a promotion I’d been working toward. We had the funeral, my dad began his recovery, and after nailing the interview, I got the job. This is when I learned that intense lows are usually followed by profound highs.
The rest of the year flew by as my routines and meditation practice grew. I noticed it’s affect on me when I spent a weekend away with friends. My routine was left by the wayside and my anxiety spiked. I knew I needed to meditate.
Before the new year, I set my goal to meditate 1–2 times a day for at least five minutes. At the time, 730 meditations sounded insane and I didn’t know if I was going to make it through the coming year. I remember listening to fireworks go off in my neighborhood at midnight while I sat peacefully on my meditation pillow. My journey began in style.
I spent my mornings and evenings sitting with my thoughts while observing my breath for an average of ten minutes. Over six months, I didn’t skip a beat and my meditations developed a rhythmic manner. I sat in the pocket and perfected my metaphysical rudiments. With so much success, I adjusted my goal to 2–3 times a day for 3–30 minutes.
Adding 182 extra meditations to my goal wasn’t a part of the plan, but I was having too much fun. I spent another five months at the grindstone sharpening my skills and deepening my practice. I hit 880 meditations by December and realized that 1000 meditations were attainable. “Why not? Let’s take it up a notch!” I thought to myself as I set the goal to meditate four times a day for at least three minutes until the end of the year.
I had a good routine for three meditations a day. However, I needed to find time to squeeze in an extra meditation. I found myself meditating in the morning, before and after lunch, and at night. Admittedly, it was a little gratuitous.
Nevertheless, it helped me reach my goal. I spent five minutes meditating in my empty basement before the ball dropped. Nothing spectacular happened after that. I was pleased to squash the goal I set a year before and ring in the new year with my friends.
Although accomplishing this tremendous goal was pleasing, it was not a means to an end. This paradoxical realization surprisingly presented an answer to itself. The endeavor in and of itself was far more satisfying than completing the objective.
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