Why meditate?

Hmmm...so what is the big deal with meditation? Why meditate? To me personally, everything comes down to as to how it affects the bottom line - meaning how does it make my life more peaceful and myself a better person? If the end affect is not leading to this, effort or belief is not worth it, but that's just me.

There is a notion out there that meditation is synonymous to relaxation and it is not entirely wrong. The first and immediate effect is indeed a relaxed mind, at least for the duration of meditation. You might even fall asleep easily if you are tired and trying to meditate, has happened to me more than once..:) A relaxed mind is able to think better and perform well thought out action. However, meditation has the ability to take you one step further than this. Once one can get the mind to relax and slow down the speed at which it has been racing, one can observe the working of mind - see how thoughts arise and fall away, perceptions arise and fall away and similarly reactions. Seeing this enables one to understand the most mysterious creation - oneself!