The other day, I wrote about mistakes and the potential for learning and wisdom they provide. Obstacles and mistakes are necessary ingredients for success but only if they are accompanied by persistence or right effort.
What we mean by right effort is the effort to be mindful, the intentional direction of the mind to the present moment. It is important to point out that we don’t mean to suggest that one should persist in a losing cause when its failings are obvious. What we mean is that one should persist in being mindful of what is working and what is not and then use that information to put more energy into what is working and less energy into what is not.
The other element of meditation practice is concentration. When we are practicing insight meditation, we are not concentrating the mind on a single object or on the movement of the body or forcing the mind to be in a particular state. We are practicing momentary concentration which means that we are giving the mind the freedom to change on its own. When we loose awareness of what is happening, we gently bring the mind back to present moment. The capacity to continually rouse awareness of what is happening now is what we refer to as right concentration.
If we apply this meditation practice in our life, we can see how it can help us to succeed in our everyday duties. Rather than giving up in the face of difficulty or mindlessly attaching to a particular strategy, we can be flexible and adjust our strategy based on feedback or as circumstances change. In this way, the capacity to be mindful is a natural stress reducer because we are better prepared to face the challenges of life that will inevitably arise.