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Having a fiery spark to one’s nature can serve well, because it often allows you to start things with energy and enthusiasm. Soon though that fiery start must give way to a steady, earthy determination, a carrying through which comes from a deep personal sincerity. The unnecessary things which form such a part of many lives should be let go of, to be carried away by the winds that surround us until there are just the pure clouds, from which the cool waters drift down and nourish us, to perhaps eventually cause the practice to bear fruit. It is a magical process

You are there to get the job done, not to admire the tools. It means getting your hands dirty. It means getting a few blisters. It means missing out on diversions and games. It means getting tired and impatient. It means falling down and getting up again. It means really looking at oneself and not liking what one sees. It means looking at your true nature and deciding what to do.
Do not lump together the idea of avoiding your suffering with the idea of the liberation of your true nature.
Do not lump together your intellectual idea of obtaining personal Awakening with the idea of the liberation of your true nature.
Do not lump together the idea that life will be more comfortable with the idea of the liberation of your true nature.
Liberate your true nature because it is there to be liberated..

Ajahn Brahm has a book all about reaching jhana and what to do with it called Mindfulness, Bliss, and Beyond.

Jhana is controversial. Brahm (and some others) believe Jhana was the novel discovery of the Buddha when he stopped following his current teacher and meditated like he had as a child (Jhana) and became enlightened. Others believe that Jhana was what the Buddha's current teachers had taught but that it wasn't enough and he returned to the meditation he had as a child and that meditation lead to enlightenment. So there is some controversy. Brahm admits that there is no directed thought in Jhana, but that Jhana gives you (on looking back) data on the Annica Anatta and Dukkha which you reflect on after Jhana. And Jhana enhances your concentration to examine those and which is also expressed in a negative sense as freeing you from the 5 hindrances. Brahm believes it's like a flashlight (Jhana) and a map (dharma) that you use together to become enlightened.

I haven't heard the polemics of my tradition how it compares to Brahm's tradition on these matters.

The method in the book I mentioned starts with limiting awareness. To the present. Then away from the stream of thoughts. Then just to the breath. Etc...

I find it quite hard just limiting awareness to the present!