by Cate Ferguson

Created on: March 31, 2009

Have you ever decided to do something, know it's a great idea and then done everything you could to avoid actually getting started?

I wanted to write about meditation, how it can be a really powerful force for good in your life and what benefits it may bring to you.

So rather than get organised and create a plan of action with a sensible outline and approach, I picked up a gardening magazine and began to flick through it. And then on the second last page my inspiration lay in wait for me.

A quote from James Allen, from his classic book "As A Man Thinketh". So of course I got on the net to find out a little bit more and there was a free e-book to download and such an array of resources related to this that I knew this was a great place for me to begin again.

Here is the quote that caught my attention:

"Calmness of mind is one of

the beautiful jewels of wisdom...
The more tranquil a man becomes,

the greater is his success,

his influence, and his power for good."

Can you see why I was so inspired? Meditation is a wonderful pathway to 'calmness of mind', it's a perfect process, tool, way of being that can bring you such rich rewards for so little cost. It is indeed one the beautiful jewels of wisdom of which James Allen speaks.

I started to think about why we would think about this as a treasure in our lives.

It didn't really take me very long to come up with quite a sizable list. I only had to look at my week and see the number of tasks, people, problems needing solutions and distances needing to be travelled to see that my need for a calm and tranquil space should be very high on my priority list.

Well, it is of course. I write about it for goodness sake. I attend a weekly meditation group in my local area and we sit in quiet companionship for an hour or so and it is wonderful.

I'm even looking to gain a certification to teach meditation (in the real world) so it's high in my consciousness but it wasn't always so. I've struggled to fit it into my day, even into my week at times, but as my relationship with meditation developed, as I began to see and feel it's many benefits, it became easier and easier.

As my friend and mentor Steve D'Annunzio once said to me: "You are a winner just because you show up every day" This is such a wonderful concept because it means you don't have to judge either yourself or your meditation. Just the fact that you sat quietly and created that calm and tranquil place for yourself means that you have been successful. It doesn't matter if you were fidgety, if the time you spent was short or long, if you fell asleep or kept thinking about the shopping... you win because you show up.

So keep showing up, each and every day until your relationship with meditation is strong and it powerful presence in your life is as natural as your breathe.

Learn more about this author, Cate Ferguson.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.