Curiouseful - useful

“Most people aren’t aware of just how much they’re missing from life. They’re distracted by so much stimulation, trapped in loops of internal dialogue, reliving past events, and feeling anxious about what’s going to happen tomorrow. And it’s so easy to carry on like this until the grave, never actually experiencing the richness of life, of the present moment. Meditation changes all of this. It enables you to pay attention to the present moment and train your mind to do what you want it to do. Meditation enhances your natural ability to be alert and aware. Try biking down Fifth Avenue absentmindedly. You can’t do it (well, not for very long). Riding a bicycle in that situation requires incredible awareness, and if you’re not present for every single second of that ride, you’ll end up beneath a city bus before you know it. Additionally, a bicycle will actually drift in whatever direction your attention is focused (remember the chapter on the power of attention). And if you’ve ever learned to drive a motorcycle, you know how important this principle is. If you look at the tree you’re about to hit instead of the path you need to take to avoid that tree, you’ll hit the tree every time. It’s the same reason why they train race-car drivers to never look at the wall. The drivers learn to focus their attention on the track and all of the action going on around them. So this is why meditation is important. If you’re not aware of precisely where your attention is, it’s kind of hard to change that focus. Biking in New York is a demonstration of the primary principles of magick in real time. Meditation empowers you to notice where your attention is going and to steer it accordingly. In magick, we steer it toward what we desire instead of on that which we fear.”