Two Years In
On two years of daily meditation — what it changed, what it didn't, and the quiet practice of accepting what comes.
Two years feels like a long time to keep one promise. It also feels like nothing — the practice unfolds at its own pace, the changes come quietly, and most days you’re not sure anything is actually happening. Then, on some ordinary morning, you notice that you’ve stopped reaching for things you used to reach for. The reaching just… isn’t there.
This was written on the morning of my second anniversary of daily meditation. Not as a victory lap — more as an honest accounting of what two years gave me, and what it didn’t.
Today marks my two year anniversary
Of meditating every single day
I can tell you I’m more patient
And more present than I was
But I’d be lying if I said my struggles went away
Or if sadness and pain didn’t disturb my brain
What I can say is that I’ve gained acceptance
Of everything that comes my way
The good, the bad, the ups, the downs
I’ve learned to let go — for I have no control
Life’s waves will unravel themselves
The way they’re supposed to flow
All I know is that I will embrace
What is meant for me
And to be kind to myself
Throughout this journey
Two years has not made the difficult easy. It’s made it carryable. The waves still come — exactly the way they did before. They just don’t pull me out the way they used to.
I don’t think the practice ever ends. That seems to be the whole point. There’s no destination where you finally arrive at peace, no completion certificate, no version of yourself that’s done. There’s only the morning, and the cushion, and the choice to come back.
— JTC