I came to this conclusion after dipping into a book called The Power Of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Oprah raved about it last year but when Dave Hughes mentioned he was reading it on Twitter a while back, the deal was sealed. How could I resist a book endorsed by both Hughsie and Oprah? More importantly, why would I want to?
Quickly, I added it to my large collection of Books-I-Will-Never-Finish. My new-age concentration span falls off a cliff after a few chapters so under my bedside table lies a graveyard of books on happiness and Buddhism and being a better parent and optimism. I’m hoping to absorb their contents via osmosis while I sleep which is a pretty optimistic idea, so perhaps it’s working.
Anyway, I’ve realised lately how shocking I am at living in the now. My symptoms include vagueness, anxiety and distractedly banging into furniture. I hadn’t directly associated any of these things with an inability to be present until I read page 50 of my new book: “Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry – all forms of fear – are caused by too much future and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness….are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.”
Sound like anyone you know?
A few days after we brought our first baby home from hospital, my husband and I were blissfully marvelling at the perfection of our son’s teeny tiny little fingers. Suddenly, my eyes filled with tears. “What’s wrong?” he asked. My voice was wobbly with emotion as I replied “How will we make sure he uses condoms when he gets older? What if he gets an STD?”