We get annoyed, elated, frustrated, overjoyed, dejected. And it's all related to what's going on around us. We're like puppets on a string. So, whatever you're feeling right now, don't get caught up in it, good or bad. Realise this: everything arises and passes away.

Charles Sherrington - Neurophysiologist

There is a gap between intellectually grasping the very simple and scientifically proven concepts on which my workshops, books and websites are based, on the one hand and actually putting the simple and practical actions into place, on the other. And that gap between understanding and doing is down to experience.

Having just read some research papers that explore one of the key problems in modern education - the fact that teachers appear to have difficulty putting themselves in their students' shoes - I can understand how so much written and said about 'living life to the full' can miss it's target.

That said, I've been in the shoes of pretty much everyone with whom I work. It took me some time, much frustration, many false starts and some dreadful mistakes before I eventually came to a fuller understanding of what focus really means and how it can transform every aspect of one's life. And that understanding was down to experience. What experience am I talking about? The experience of a totally free mind. Even if that experience only comes and lasts for fleeting moments, it provides a glimpse of a reality that is so different from the world that we perceive that words are incapable of describing it. One of my clients recently described it as 'flashes of happiness'.

The key point is that anyone who has done even a relatively small amount of meditation - will have had a glimpse of that different state of mind. Once glimpsed, it provides you with an experience that you can begin to get your hands on and your teeth into. It's not that you crave the experience again, it is the understanding that the experience gives you - and the compelling reason why you should persevere with your meditation until a few more pennies drop.

Like everything in life, it's a journey. Like all journeys, the road gets bumpy from time to time. But you won't move further in your own personal journey unless you stay on that road, however bumpy it might be. Sooner or later you'll hit a smooth patch and life will be just like cruising down the highway.