Thank you for your comment.

I personally found it quite difficult to eliminate negative thought-patterns through reflection and positive reinforcement alone, so perhaps I had more to gain from meditation than others.

Overall I think it comes down to the fact that everyone is at a different stage and has a different relationship with reality, so certainly the meditation can be more important for some than others. I should also point out I agree completely with the importance of awareness in making progress, but I do also happen to believe progress has been greatly overemphasized in society (Western particularly).