Describe the most ambitious DIY project you’ve ever taken on.

The Most Ambitious DIY Project: My 35-Year Meditation Journey

Some people build houses. Others restore old cars. A few even knit entire sweaters. Meanwhile, I chose a different kind of project—one with no blueprints, no tools, and no clear finish line. My DIY project started in my youth with one purpose, but it is still going on today—now with a completely different one.

When I first began meditating, I wasn’t looking for peace, mindfulness, or self-awareness. No, I had bigger plans. I wanted superpowers—to open my third eye, teleport, and maybe even levitate a little, just to mess with people. Meditation, for me, wasn’t about inner peace; it was my secret training to become a mystical being.

Things did not go as planned.

After months (okay, years) of trying and failing to achieve anything remotely supernatural, I turned to books, hoping I had missed some crucial step. What I found was disappointing. Every single book told me that to reach higher states, I had to give up my comfortable life—leave everything behind, live in isolation, beg for food, and spend my days battling hunger, loneliness, and mosquito bites.

That was the day I quit my third-eye-opening mission. The idea of starving in a jungle while mosquitoes feasted on me was enough to kill my enlightenment dreams.

Meditation faded into the background. Life moved on. Years passed. Then one day, I found myself with free time and curiosity. The old dream resurfaced. But this time, Google existed.

I searched for new answers, and what I found was hilarious. The internet was filled with people claiming they had opened their third eye in just a few easy steps—as if enlightenment was as simple as making instant noodles. There were guides like:

“How to Activate Your Third Eye in 10 Minutes”

“Secret Ancient Meditation Hack They Don’t Want You to Know”

“Shocking! I Opened My Third Eye and Now I Can See the Future”

If those steps worked, I should have been a spiritual powerhouse by now. But reality doesn’t work like that. And the people writing those articles? Let’s just say they weren’t exactly glowing with enlightenment.

Again, my meditation practice went dormant. Life continued. But then something unexpected happened.

One day, without thinking about meditation at all, I accidentally discovered something new—a trick that actually worked. I noticed that when I did things very slowly, my mind became calmer, and time itself seemed to stretch. A few seconds felt longer, as if I had stepped into a different kind of awareness.

Later, I discovered another strange effect. If I moved extremely fast—running, working at top speed—and then suddenly stopped, my mind would enter a brief moment of absolute stillness. It felt like pressing a reset button, just for a few seconds. Later, I found out Osho had introduced this concept, but I had experienced it on my own, without any guru to sell it to me.

I also tried a different kind of experiment: pretending my entire day was a real-time drama, where I was simply an actor playing a role. From morning until I fell asleep, I maintained this awareness, as if my life was unfolding on a stage. I only managed to do this once, but that night, I slept like a baby—no dreams, just pure rest. The next day, I felt incredible.

But just like every other meditation breakthrough, it wasn’t permanent. It didn’t matter what method I used—sooner or later, my own desires, distractions, and weaknesses pulled me back into normal life. That’s when I realized:

Real meditation isn’t about techniques. It’s about confronting yourself.

And that’s the hardest part. You have to accept yourself completely—the strengths, the flaws, the nonsense. And acceptance? That’s a battle I still struggle with.

Meditation, I’ve learned, is like walking in the darkness without a flashlight, searching for light. There’s no GPS, no guide, just you. Along the way, you see many fireflies—beautiful distractions that make you think you’ve arrived. But the deeper you go, the more you run into your subconscious mind—a place filled with things you’ve been avoiding your whole life. And many people quit right there. It’s uncomfortable. It’s messy. It’s not Instagram-worthy.

But those who keep walking eventually realize something shocking: They are the light they were searching for.

I’m not saying this to give advice. I have no enlightenment to sell. This is just my personal journey—the most ambitious DIY project I’ve ever taken on.

It started with dreams of magic and third-eye superpowers. Now, it’s just about living life mindfully—without any grand expectations. I wash dishes like it’s a sacred ritual. Drink tea like it’s the last cup on Earth. Walk like I actually notice where I’m going. That’s enough.

I use meditation like a pickle—just a little, only when I feel like it. I don’t want this journey to end anytime soon. And the best part? No one even knows I’m doing it.

And that, I think, is the real secret to meditation.