Getting your mind right begins with stillness, not struggle.

Introduction
My wife, Kay, once said to me, “You have to help people, Tom. You’ve lived in voluntary lockdown for years. You know how to do this.”
At the time, I laughed — but she was right.
As a writer and publisher, I’ve spent much of my life in solitude, at home, in the company of words and silence. What I learned then, often the hard way, is that solitude is not the same as loneliness. Solitude can be fertile ground. And learning to be still — truly still — is the first step toward peace of mind.

The Restless Mind
The mind, left unattended, behaves like a great grey elephant. It wanders where it pleases, trampling through the jungle of thought, trumpeting every worry and distraction in its path.

There’s no controlling it through force. Shouting won’t help. Beating it into submission only enrages it.
But with patience, kindness, and gentle attention, it begins to settle.

Turn off the noise. Put down the phone. Step away from the endless scroll of other people’s lives. Sit quietly and breathe. Just breathe. Count your breaths if you like — one to five, slowly, attentively. Let the elephant in your mind rest beside you.

The Practice of Stillness
At first, the chatter will be relentless. Thoughts will rush like a storm: bills, plans, regrets, the grocery list, the future. That’s fine. That’s what the mind does.

Imagine your thoughts as particles in a glass of murky water. When you stop stirring, they begin to settle. The water clears. The mind becomes transparent. In that stillness, you begin to see — not with your eyes, but with awareness.

“Meditation is not the act of escaping the world. It is the art of being fully present in it.”

Try it for just five breaths. Then ten. Then half an hour. You’re not chasing enlightenment; you’re simply learning to listen. To yourself. To the silence beneath the noise.

When the Elephant Follows
In time, with practice and gentleness, something remarkable happens: the elephant begins to follow you. The mind, once wild and wayward, now walks beside you in quiet trust.

You’ve stopped trying to dominate it; you’ve befriended it.
And in doing so, you’ve taken your first true step on the path of meditation — the path of getting your mind right.

“The goal is not to silence the mind, but to make peace with its noise.”

What does your “elephant” look like today? Is it restless, afraid, distracted — or quietly grazing nearby? Sit for a few minutes and see if it will come closer when you stop chasing it.