The Turning Point

There have been numerous occasions in my life when I began a new practice of some sort. With each new experience would also come an adjustment. Sometimes they would be difficult and challenging adjustments and sometimes easy.

Depending on how important the activity and the results were to me, would determine my level of commitment. Eventually, with many of those new practices, I reached a turning point. I could either drop it and let it go, or persist through any challenges that showed up until I realized my goal.

One of my greatest successful turning points was in developing my ability to meditate. My first attempt at being silent and emptying my mind only created more stress since I was such a failure at non-thinking. The prize of peace, however, kept me in a state of optimistic persistence. The next time, it was a bit easier. I actually felt different at the end of my fifteen minutes. Soon, fifteen minutes turned to thirty and then a full hour. Had I given up early on, I would not have this wonderful practice present in my daily life now.

When I see the challenges I face as potentially being stepping stones to a better me and a better life, it is much easier to keep going and not turn back when the turning point appears.