so meditating was something i wasnt all too serious with, but it helped give me a good habit with my thoughts.

you are teaching yourself not to fixate on thoughts that come into your head. This is a source of a lot of stress in your life cause you can find yourself tied up thinking about things that are wasting mental processes. Things will pop into your head that only need your attention for that moment. So it's a bit of a discipline, to actively meditate is to keep your mind in that state where it isn't fixated on something. It's a bit like when you float in water. Your attention still drifts, but it doesnt lock into anything. You notice small things, like the feeling of your clothes if this is something you normally block out, small sounds of your environment. It's a way to reduce internal distractions in your head. In many practices you are taught to listen to the sounds of your environment, the idea is to reinforce not getting caught up in what errant thoughts come into your head. It's also important for the practice not to make it being all "head empty no thoughts" since it's really not that possible. It's about THE WAY TO head empty no thoughts as it seems like it's understood how difficult it is to keep your mind clear.

<- This is what we aspire to.