Am I Making Progress?

Meditation is a funny thing. There's no goal. There's no measuring our progress. It's more about the journey than it is about the destination. And yet, sometimes without any objective measure, we can't help but wonder if we're making any progress. We might even begin thinking about the meditation during the meditation. Is it working? Am I doing it right? When's this quiet mind going to show up? The irony, of course, is that all of this thinking causes more noise in the mind. The truth is no amount of thinking will help us assess progress. After all meditation is about something beyond thinking. That's why it feels so good. So how do we measure progress? Well, it's better if we don't even try but showing up to meditate each day, or at least on a regular basis is maybe a good place to begin. In many ways, this idea of epitomizes the spirit of meditation. No matter what's going on in our mind or in our life, we just show up and sit. It takes discipline to show up when the mind is happy and calm, and it takes courage to show up when the mind is anxious or sad. But over time, we get comfortable learning how to navigate the different conditions of the mind, to sit no matter what. That's a special thing. So forget any idea of progress. Let go of the need to judge. The important thing is to show up. As long as you do that, you're on the right path....