In the Moment

My youngest son is having his birthday party today. Unfortunately, since he had to switch it from last week, some of his friends that were going to come, could not as they had other commitments. My son was a little frustrated but I told him, look there is not much you can do about it, just enjoy the time now with the friends that can come.

I had posted before about being confused and kind of in the dumps because of several things going on in my life. When I start to feel this way, I read a lot of books. Interestingly enough, I already had a book in my possession called , "A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. I had read his previous book about, "The Power of Now," and it was fantastic. The New Earth book, I had read last year and was disappointed, it didn't do a lot for me.



By pure serendipity, I found it again and decided to give it another try. What I read was absolutely astounding. The questions about life and what is my life's purpose were answered in the book. Tolle even says that if you are not at this awareness stage, the book will be meaningless to you. He talks about inner and outer purpose. Your inner purpose is to awaken, your outer purpose can change and be many things but without alignment of the two, there is no joy and it will inevitably end in some form of suffering. Transcending ego based consciousness is the key to happiness and the ending of suffering and conflict.

Everything I have been reading lately, points to "living in the present" as the secret to having a fulfilling life.

Thoughts dictate our lives 24/7 and if you can slow that down or as Tolle says, puts space around your thoughts, you will be living more in the moment. Meditation practice is the way to develop that space.

One of the questions that I have been asking myself lately is that I am almost 50 years old and what have I done with my life? This is an excerpt from the book, "My fear is that I will remain stuck with doing little things for the rest of my life, things that are no consequence. I'm afraid of never rising above mediocrity, never daring to achieve anything great, not fulfilling my potential.
The great arises out of small things that are honored and cared for. Everybody's life really consists of small things. Greatness is a mental abstraction and a favorite fantasy of the ego. The paradox is that the foundation of greatness is honoring the small things of the present moment instead of pursuing the idea of greatness. The present moment is always small in the sense that it is always simple, but concealed within it lies the greatest power."

This book spoke to me on so many levels and is now one of the most powerful and enlightening books that I have ever read.

The Power of Now

This book by Eckhart Tolle, I read a few years ago. Actually someone at a dinner party recommended it. She had been in a serious car accident and this book had helped her get through a difficult time. I am one that does not go out and buy any book unless the name keeps showing up in different places. I saw the title of this book again somewhere else shortly afterwards and decided I was meant to read it.

In a nutshell, suffering is a product of being in the past and the future. In any given moment, if you are fully present, it is impossible to have a problem.

I am one of those people who live in my head a lot . I think it is the curse of a multi-tasker. I also handle my problems the same way. I think, worry and try to deal with all of them at the same time. It doesn't work very well plus it gets a bit overwhelming and tiring to boot.

Lilacs blooming in my backyard during spring

I was outside in the garden the other day and realized that I had not noticed all the flowers that were in bloom. It was very pretty. I walked thru the garden and looked back at the house surrounded by more flowers of every shape and color. It again struck me how beautiful it all was. I get the same experience when I am watching the cats or the dogs play. It's a wonderful feeling. I was in the present and problems really don't exist when you are there. I wondered how many of these snapshots in life am I missing because I am too caught up in my own thoughts?

These little glimpses of being present have taught me that there is great joy even in the midst of pain and suffering.