A Lifelong Tool

dose of calmness. Every weekday morning, I'll share a meditation story, offer a simple practical tip about how you or a loved one can stay a bit calmer in your life, and then we'll end each episode together with a moment of gratitude. My hope is that I can share what I know to anyone who needs it. Ready, sit comfortably, take a few deep breaths, and let's begin today's journey. It's tough being an adult these days, but it's so

much tougher being a kid. Kids don't have the cognitive capacity to deal with such intense levels of stress and anxiety. If a child doesn't have a strong family or a community support system, very tough for that kid to survive. And even when they have that support system, there's a lot of problems. Got me thinking about a young man named Teddy. Teddy was twelve years old. I had taught his mom to meditate because she had serious anxiety issues and it helped her a lot, so she thought, well,

maybe it will help my son. Teddy was diagnosed with something called twice exceptional. To e Teddy was exceptionally intelligent verbally. When he was ten years old, published a book and won a national poetry competition. But twice exceptional also means exceptionally anxious, depressed. A week or so before Joanna brought Teddy and for me to teach him to meditate, Teddy had sent a letter to his parents saying he didn't think there was any reason for him to live anymore,

that nobody would miss him. One of the problems with twice exceptional kids is that there's an uneven brain development. One part of the brain for cognitive capacity hugely developed, and yet other areas of the brain slow development. And that's what breeds that insecurity, that self doubt. I taught Teddy to meditate, and he just took to it, and right from the beginning he meditated fifteen minutes in the morning and fifteen minutes in the afternoon regularly. Now, let's

fast forward to today. Teddy sent me an email quote. Up until my first experience with transcendental meditation, the only rest I knew was sleep. Then I learned to meditate, and after a few minutes of closing my eyes and repeating my mantra, something that I thought was too simple to actually work, it hit me the sensation that has been dubbed transcending. It wasn't like falling asleep, but rather it was like waking up to a well of untapped

strength and energy, only it didn't require any effort. Although the feeling is indescribable, the results I have experienced are very real. I'm not nearly as tired as before. I feel like I could tackle anything and emerge victorious. This isn't some pill or drug that wears off. It's a lifelong tool. The takeaway here is why did Teddy learn

to meditate? Because his mother learned to meditate, and Teddy saw an example that his mother was taking time out of her busy schedule and taking care of herself, and Teddy saw her being calmer and happier. So my message to parents and grandparents is we have to practice what we preach if we want our children to be healthy, happy, successful, to not overreact to small things. We have to be a model of that. We have to be on a good routine, go to bed on time, eat well, manage

our stress. We do all those things, is our child going to notice? Doesn't matter because your child is taking it in learning. And I can't tell you the number of times that young people, young adults have told me when they learned to meditate. You know, my mom or my dad or my parents meditated, and I really wasn't interested in it as a kid, but it put the thought in the back of my mind, and I'm really

glad I learned. I'm going to leave you with a wonderful quote from the great doctor, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize winner Albert Schweitzer. At times are light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person, each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. All right, let's end this time together doing something that I think would be a feature of our everyday life, and that's

appreciation and gratitude. So let's take thirty seconds of quiet, thirty seconds to take a break, Just take a moment it turns out when we do that, it's good for our health as well. I'll be right back all right. Thank you for joining. This is Bob Roth. Keep calm. Thanks for listening today. I hope you heard something that inspires, that uplifts you and that you can incorporate into your own life. Until next time, remember, meditate, be kind, and be true to yourself. Hey, all of you out there,

I'd love to hear from you. You can send me your stories, your questions, or anything else on your mind. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at meditation Bob. You can also send me an email at meditation Bob Roth at gmail dot com. I look forward to hearing from you.