“There is peace even in the storm.”- Vincent Van Gogh. I read this quote and it really resonated with me and fits perfectly into my whole “surf the storm” message. I’m not going to even pretend to be an expert on Van Gogh or act like I even know what he was referring to but I find this quote incredibly powerful! I do believe whatever life storm you’re facing there is some peace to be found somewhere if you’re willing to look hard enough for it. They often say you have to find peace within you, so for me one of them most helpful ways I’ve been able to find some peace has been by starting to meditate. Meditation has been an absolute game changer for me and I would highly recommend everyone at least try it! Dealing with tons of health issues like I do can take a giant toll on you mentally as well as physically. I was overwhelmed by it when I first started to try and learn how to meditate. I pictured a buddhist monk just being all zen like sitting for hours with his legs crossed. I have such bad ADHD that I wasn’t even sure if I’d be able to learn how to do it. Even while writing this I have headphones on listening to music. Is it normal to write like this? Oops, see I got sidetracked again. Anyway, I started by trying to just meditate for 5 minutes a day. It took awhile for my mind to calm down but I stuck with it and moved up to 10 minutes a day. Eventually I was able to get my mind to calm down as I just focused on my breath. My favorite benefit I’ve noticed is how refreshed I feel afterwards. It feels like I just woke up from a 30 minute power nap after just 10 minutes of meditation! This will help a ton for anyone who doesn’t get as much sleep as they’d like or wakes up super early in the morning like me. You have to try it! Also I’ve noticed it helps you sort out your thoughts. Usually the first few minutes when I try and clear my mind anything that has been bothering me comes to the surface, I then reset and clear my mind but it has really helped me realize with better clarity what has been stressing me out. The last benefit I’ll talk about is how I’ve felt overall just more in charge of my life when I’m consistently meditating. I feel less anxious and more calm and don’t overreact to things as much as I used to before meditating.
I wrote the first half of this post in early December, then work got crazy and I got away from meditating for about a month after doing it everyday for awhile. It’s January now and I’m back to it! I guess this could be viewed as an experiment to see if I could actually feel a difference. I can tell you with 100% confidence now that every benefit I’ve written about is real and I feel way better now that I’m back on track! So I challenge anyone who reads this if they don’t already meditate then it’s time to start! Try it for a month! You might be surprised to see how much it can help you! Have the best week ever and I hope you can find peace even in the storm!
Crush it!
Justin
