I used to wonder how people could meditate for even a couple of minutes, never mind half an hour or several hours. It was simply impossible for me. It might be something that someone from the Far East could achieve, or even certain strange people from the West; but those people obviously didn't have my over-alert mind. I just knew that I would never be able to meditate.

It's amusing to look back on that now, since I now spend at least half-an-hour each day on focused meditation, and an increasing amount of time on awareness meditation. This is not boasting: I know there are many of my acquaintances in my 12-Step program who meditate for much longer periods of time, and whose practice seems to be easier for them than it is for me. It's merely to say that, when I hear someone say they can't meditate, I now suspect they may really mean what I meant when I said those words, which was: I don't want to meditate.