"Meditation, huh... I've got to head down to Coral City Combat Arts after this..."

Miss Planner hated meditation. She couldn't stand sitting still doing nothing. Her brain was always racing with ideas, plans, and thoughts that needed to be acted upon immediately. It was difficult to just shut off all that mental activity and focus on nothing.
She'd tried it before back when she was first researching ways to increase her powers, but it hadn't worked. It was so boring. She knew it wasn't like that for everyone, but she just couldn't get into it. The whole thing seemed pointless, especially when she could just smoke something and take a nap if she really needed to relax.

But Elder Omen knew what he was talking about. He was an expert on all things related to the mind and the spirit. If he thought meditation would help her, then who was she to argue?

"I guess I'll try it one more time. Just fifteen minutes..."

Miss Planner set an alarm on her phone, sighed deeply, and closed her eyes.

"Breathe slowly and evenly. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Snnnnf... hoooh. Snnnnf... hoooh."

She counted silently to herself, trying to clear her mind of everything except the process of inhaling and exhaling. But the distractions were persistent. Thoughts and worries about work, family, friends, and even romance kept creeping into her head like a swarm of ants.

"One, two, three, four..."

Was she ready to go back to the gym? Her motor skills were shot. And her left arm was feeling kind of stiff and tired.

"Five, six, seven, eight..."

What was Erica doing right now? Why wasn't she answering her phone? She needed her now more than ever. And why did Alex always look so depressed lately? Did he get dumped or something?

"Nine, ten..."

There was just so much to do. Action groups to supervise, reports to prepare, meetings to lead... she was running herself ragged. There was no end to the projects and requests and deadlines and deliverables and reports. Every day brought a different problem to tackle and every single one of them took forever.

"Sigh..."

When had she turned into such a slob? When did she start eating junk food for every meal? Her kitchen was filled with empty pizza boxes and her bed reeked like stale cigarettes. Her hair looked awful these days too. It used to be shiny and bouncy, but now it felt limp and lifeless. It didn't have any bounce in it anymore, either. What happened to her?

"AAAAAHHH!"

Beep beep! Beep beep!

Miss Planner's feelings of inadequacy and anxiety swelled up inside of her as her cell phone buzzed loudly. She jumped and gasped as she fumbled around looking for it, eventually finding it under her bed.

Miss Planner's meditation session was officially over. After fifteen minutes of staring at a blank white wall, it was time to return to reality. Yes,she'd managed to sit still the entire fifteen minutes. But she hadn't managed to clear her mind. And it definitely didn't feel like she was any closer to getting in touch with her inner self or strengthening her soul. No, the entire experience was more exhausting than anything else and it seemed to have done exactly nothing at all except leave her feeling kind of anxious and sad.

"Well... maybe next time I can try a little harder?"

Even though she hated meditation and found it completely agonizing, she couldn't quit now. If Elder Omen wanted her to meditate, she would do it until she learned to love it. She didn't have much of a choice.

"I guess I'll give it another shot tomorrow..."

Spending a little time trying to relax every day wasn't going to kill her. She didn't believe it was going to much of a difference, but she was willing to try. At least, that's what she told herself while she walked to Coral City Combat Arts with a big frown on her face. Her failed meditation session brought her mood to its lowest point in a long, long while.

"Hello, Jessica. Ready for your workout today?"
"I'm ready, Coach Roman!"

"Alright, let's do this! First, we're gonna warm you up! I want you to do five laps around the room as fast as you can! Go, go, go!"
"Okaaay! Five laps, got it!"

"Alright, next is the plank exercise! Hold the plank position as long as you can! What are you waiting for? Plank! Now!"
"Yes, coach!"

"Good girl! Next up, crunches! Roll over and get to work!"
"Come on, come on, come on! You can do it! Do it!"
"Push ups! One hundred!"
"Come on, you've gotta try harder than that! Push it out!"

Miss Planner was a woman of action. She was a person who worked hard, made things happen, and never gave up. She liked things that were straightforward and easy to understand, and she hated questions that didn't have answers. Sitting still like a philosopher thinking about nothing was not Miss Planner's style.

But running around around in circles, panting from exertion, sweat pouring down her forehead, screaming 'Knife fight! Knife fight!' at the top of her lungs... that was fun!

As Miss Planner ran through the routine of exercises and drills, she felt her mood improve bit by bit. The tension drained away from her body like water from a soaked sponge, leaving a sense of strength and energy in its place.

"Meditation... not my thing... exercise... way better..."