Mindfulness Meditation (For Everyday Life)

Meditation practice is hardly romantic. The ways in
which we need to grow are usually those we are the
most supremely defended against and are least
willing to admit even exist, let alone take an
undefended, mindful peek at and then act on to
change. It won't be sustaining enough to have a
quixotic idea of yourself as a meditator, or to hold the
opinion that meditation is good for you because it has
been good for others, or because Eastern wisdom
sounds deep to you, or because you are in the habit
of meditating. The vision we are speaking of has to
be renewed every day, has to be right out front all the
time, because mindfulness itself requires this level of
awareness of purpose, of intention. Otherwise, we
might as well stay in bed.
The practice itself has to become the daily
embodiment of your vision and contain what you
value most deeply. It doesn't mean trying to change
or be different from how you are, calm when you're
not feeling calm, or kind when you really feel angry.
Rather, it is bearing in mind what is most important to
you so that it is not lost or betrayed in the heat and
reactivity of a particular moment. If mindfulness is
deeply important to you, then every moment is an
opportunity to practice.