My Meditation Experience

Problems. They just seemed to burst into every pore of my being.
Pouring into every thought.
Into every action I took, they overtook.

Being a young person meant that you weren’t supposed to have problems.
We are supposed to free, supposed to not have worries or cares.
I came to the conclusion that my problems only became real barriers when I thought about them.
I didn’t like to set limits on myself, so I needed a way out.

Ever since I had been small, I had watched my parents.
Watched them, as I snuggled beneath their bedclothes in the early morning.
I watched them sit, hands folded, pooled eyes.
I listened to their breathing. It became so slow that it nearly stopped, and it was just a slow ebb, a silent rhythm.
And then I would watch them-stand up, smiling.
And they seemed to get on with their days, dealing with all the things everyone dealt with. But with a better attitude.
I was baffled by the way this simple routine could change your whole day!

Finally, after a particularly horrific experience, I sat down; hands folded, and tried to do what my parents did.
When nothing happened, and I decided that my breathing wasn’t slowing or anything, I tried to force myself to breathe slow, and nearly suffocated.
Right so; I obviously wasn’t doing something right.

I broke the number one rule of teenagerdom, and asked my parents what to do.
Dad smiled and told me that all you had to do was clear your mind and be happy.
Hmmm, well I’d give it a try.

I sat down, crossed legged, hands folded, and focused on making my mind
A
   Blank
          Sheet
                  Of
             Paper…

Whether it was minutes or hours that passed, I don’t know.
But the next day, I did the same, only this time, I knew it was only minutes, and I could see a strange kind of light emanating towards my eyes.
It gave me a kind of hope to hang onto. A kind of happiness and security inside of myself, and I found myself smiling without noticing!

I now meditate everyday, the periods getting longer, my happiness stretching…
It really works.