I was recently playing with my 3-year-old granddaughter when she got overly excited and broke some rules. Her mother immediately put her in a 5-minute time out. Upon being released from her time out, she confidently ran back to play with me proclaiming, “Grandma, grandma, I want you to know I am changed; I am a completely different person now!”
Despite her confidence, I have no doubt that my granddaughter will spend many more 5-minute periods in time outs as she grows to adulthood. Each time will be an invitation for her to remember a different way to be as well as a time to reflect on who she wants to be.
Meditation is much like a self-imposed time out. For those moments we leave our interactions with the outer world to enter a world of silence. By doing this we put ourselves in a position to remember who and whose we are. We touch the essence of a different “me”.
My granddaughter, at 3, carried the illusion that a miraculous change had occurred in 5 minutes. According to her account, she had become an entirely different person.
For us, meditation might not seem quite so miraculous. We may even wonder if anything much is happening, but that may be the saving grace of it all. The changes brought about by meditation sneak in so unobtrusively that we are changed without really knowing it…and that in itself is pretty miraculous.
Great Post. Thnaks for sharing the valuable information.