NOW!

How many of you have read the book The Power of Now? It is written by Eckhart Tolle, and Oprah was promoting it on her TV program a while back. A friend, who is a fan of that formidable talk show lady, gave me a hard cover edition as a gift. I need to read it again. I can’t remember all of his messages, but one thing did stick in this aging brain of mine, although I often forget to put his advice to use. I won’t attempt to quote him, but the essence was that we should always be aware of what is happening to us right NOW, at this very moment, and consider it something special. Even if it is a bad moment, one should learn to mentally step back and treat it an opportunity to learn, to grow. By putting the emphasis on NOW, we unload the burden of worrying about what MAY or MAY NOT happen within the next hour, the next day, etc. He does tell us to prepare the best we can for whatever event we anticipate, but then to let it go; don’t compromise your joy today for the problems of tomorrow.

I recall when I first practiced the method. I was driving to work for another hectic day at the office (when is it not?), and I remembered his words. I started to look around at the fields, the sky, the houses, even the other cars around me. For the sake of safety, I always do, but this time was different. I was paying attention, really noticing what was there; the shape of the clouds, the models of the vehicles, the way a certain driver hunched over the steering wheel. I purposely listened to the words and the finger-snapping beat of the music from my radio, instead of hearing it as background noise. I tasted the hour-old piece of gum I was chewing (not bad!), and actually felt the softness of the shirt I was wearing, the snug comfort of my leather seat and the soothing, rolling motion of my truck. I took the time to wonder again at the miracle of automobiles, and the ability to get from one place to another so quickly, so easily. This Tolle dude had something going there! If we can make each moment awesome, imagine what our whole day would be like! Better yet, imagine the effect on the rest of our lives!

As I mentioned in my first paragraph, I forget to use it. As do most of us, I tend to react with emotion when things are happening to me, around me. Still, I know that practice makes perfect, so I’m going to try using his method again. Why not? It may be a long shot, but I know that, after my illuminating drive that day, I walked into the office SMILING and, by the time I crawled into bed, I felt that I had actually LIVED those hours instead of the usual drifting through them doing the best that I could.

I’m starting immediately. In fact, I can feel how my wrinkles tighten as I send you all a big SMILE! Nice!

Luv from the Bush in Quebec