The Sun, the Sky, and Me : 8 Years of Change Through Meditation

The sun needs the sky to show its golden outline.

The sky needs the Earth to gain the freedom to look down.

And we, as human beings, exist in much the same way — small and fleeting.

So small that along the journey of growth, we cycle through insecurity, anger, pity, hope, courage, disappointment, failure, and positivity — over and over again.

So fragile that even one night’s sleep can bring unexpected changes in our body, and we may leave this world without ever seeing the sun again or looking up at the sky once more.

🌍 A Life That Seemed Planned, Yet Repeatedly Crumbled

It’s been more than a decade since I arrived in this country.

Everyday life has been about survival — earning money to eat, to plan the future, to rest, and to prepare for the things my heart truly desires.

On the outside, it all looked organized and well-managed.

But in reality, the expectations in my mind were always too high.

Life never quite lived up to them, and I would spiral into frustration — moving forward, falling into a pit, trying to get up again — repeating that cycle endlessly.

🧘 A Chance Encounter with Meditation and a Hidden Question

In 2017, through a simple coincidence, I discovered a meditation centre in Auckland. In the first few months, I didn’t fully understand what meditation really was. But I kept going, driven by a question that had quietly lived inside me for a long time:

“If you can’t live with clarity, what’s the point of any result in life?”

To live with clarity means to understand life and death. It means to follow your inner voice. It means to hold your center even amid chaos and change.

No one taught me how to live that way. There were no role models of people who lived with that kind of wisdom.

After all —

money is not wisdom,

survival is not wisdom,

food is not wisdom,

competition and ambition are not wisdom.

🌿 What 8 Years of Meditation Gave Me

Now it's April 2025. It’s been 8 years since I started meditating.

If I had to summarize what I’ve gained in three words:

“Living life better.”

I’ve come to understand my own experiences more clearly, and that understanding now serves as my guide in life — not desire for gain, not fear of loss.

I can find calm in excitement and joy in anger. I stay up late or wake up early because of work, yet I feel energized. My cravings for food, my attachments, and stubbornness have all slowly diminished — not disappeared, but softened.

I still have goals, projects, and dreams — but I move toward them with more focus, more ease, and more depth.

🌅 “Living Better” Is, in the End, Transcendence

To live better, in this sense, is to transcend. To rise above who I was,

to move past my past emotions, habits, perceptions, and experiences. And when you transcend, time answers with one word:

“Renewal.”

🌤️ Still Me, Yet Not the Same

I am still me.

The sun is still the sun.

The sky is still the sky.

But every moment is new.

More vibrant.

More alive.

Just as the sun needs the sky,

and the sky needs the Earth,

you might just need meditation.