With life as busy as it is - with working, attending to family members and houses, spending time with friends and involvement with the community - we do not have much time to get in touch with our true selves. Meditation is a great way, perhaps the best way, to find our true selves.

In Shakespeare's play, Hamlet, Polonius tells his son,
"This above all, -
to thine own self be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."

The notion of being true to oneself is a time honored ideal. When we know ourselves, we can be true to ourselves, and therefore, true to others. It takes time, solitude and silence to find our true selves - commodities that are scarce for most of us. Meditation is a way to build these commodities into our lives. When we are quiet, we are able to watch and listen to the chatter of our minds - and as the chatter quiets, we can learn about ourselves, and get in touch with our true selves.

The more we learn about ourselves, the more we can be true to others and be true in all situations. Recently I was asked by two family members to leave my life and work in New Hampshire and come to California to take care of them. Although I care for these family members, I am not a nurse and I knew that I could not meet their expectations. Caring for one of them for three weeks left me emotionally and physically depleted. Caring for both of them for an unknown amount of time would not be possible.

There was a time in my life when I would have done what they asked because I thought I "should". Now I know that it would not honor them or myself if I agreed to their request. That knowledge, that truth, came from time spent in meditation.