Mindfulness gets me closer to reality, while thinking pulls me away from it all the time. Mindfulness is about getting my mind where my body is, while my thoughts are trying to get my body where they are: into some imaginary world; it can be scary or a fantastic one, but it seems always to be more important and more interesting than the real one.
Reality is vast and unpredictable and it is always changing. And I am scared of change. Maybe this constant monolog of the talking mind is a way of protecting me from change and with that from the complete lack of control.
The stories (good or bad, funny or scary) give me illusion of control and stability. (Yes, I know what is going to happen, why it has happened and who is responsible.)
A story is an interpretation of what I have experienced, what my senses deduce from the environment. I spend most of my time listening to these stories. They are so important that they obscure the impulse that started them: sensing the environment.
In meditation I skip all the interpretation and get directly to the sensing, being and experiencing.
It allows me to be present with what actually is here and it has a very calming effect on me, it makes me feel safe, brave and in control. I love meditation.