One thing that has become increasingly difficult as the COPD progresses is finding a comfortable position that keeps my spine straight so I can meditate. Simply sitting straight is not an option with the physical changes due to the disease, so meditation itself has been difficult these last few years because of that, as well as the effort it takes to breathe, and the difficulties I’ve experienced in trying to focus and maintain my concentration. Low levels of oxygen, along with some of the side effects of necessary medications have affected my thought processes as well as concentration.

Still, with Tayo’s guidance I kept plugging away and yet was not quite able to get it all to come together the way it used to. I felt very frustrated and inept, as well as sad for what seemed to be a loss. And then something that Wolf taught for years and that I first heard in the original School of Evolutionary Astrology correspondence course tapes snapped back into my immediate consciousness: “The value is in the effort.” Even though that phrase seems to be nearly etched into my brain at this point, for some reason, I hadn’t applied it to this particular situation.

“The value is in the effort.” It’s another way of saying what all the great spiritual teachers and gurus have said about anything we do, i.e., to do it for God only and not to be attached to the outcome. To let whatever come, just come. It’s a simple concept and easy to understand, but can be harder to do. For some reason, I find it easier to let go of the outcome of whatever endeavor when I place the emphasis on the effort itself. For I’ve found it nearly a universal experience that when we tell ourselves NOT to think about something (as being attached to the outcome), then it seems that’s where our mind wants to go – to the very thing we’re trying not to do.

“The value is in the effort,” helps me stick to my efforts to meditate, to use mantras and/or techniques I have learned, no matter how well I can carry them out now. I keep plugging away in much better spirits than before. For I have found through some other personal  experiences that at some point there IS an outcome, and it’s almost always better than what I could have asked for.

Whether we experience the “results” of our effort in this lifetime or a future one doesn’t matter, it’s our effort and intentions that matter. “The value is in the effort.” Whenever I hear those words in my own head, I can hear Wolf’s voice as he originally spoke them, and that, too, is both a comfort and an encouragement.