Discovering The Power of Now

(Authors note: I am in no way connected with The Power of Now or Eckhart Tolle. I do not profit or gain anything by mentioning his book. My thoughts are my own).

When you get old you say things like "this book changed my life." Well, this book changed my life – The Power of Now by EckhartTolle. I can't even remember when or why I picked the book up, but it was so influential in bringing me out of the bottom of a barrel at a time in my life when I felt I had hit rock bottom.

I would listen to the audio version on my 3-hour commute every day and had it on my iPod, listening to it whenever possible. I know that all books are not for everyone and certain books hit you at different times in your life and in different ways. But I have to mention Power of Now because the things I learned from it helped me cope in a hostile work environment and those lessons still affect my life today.

Sometimes, especially when working around negative people, it's easy to get sucked up into the negativity – even if that's not your nature. For a time that happened to me, until I discovered The Power of Now.

Ever have a heated conversation with someone and for hours (and sometimes days) after you're still rehashing it over and over in your head? Maybe you're re-living the exchange or maybe you're changing it up adding things you should have said. Maybe it's a conversation that never happened, living only in your imagination.

Either way, it's consuming you for nothing. In fact, the person you were having the conversation with has probably already forgotten it – so what good is it to keep reliving it? It only makes us old and sick. Living in the present moment takes that away.

How does living in the present moment take this shit away? It forces us to be mindful of what's going on right now. This isn't a new concept, in fact it's very Buddhist. Meditation helps us experience the Now because we are focused on our breath and our bodies at that moment. We can experience this without meditation, simply by quieting the mind.

Here's some great news and I'm going to shout it – WE HAVE CONTROL OVER OUR MINDS AND WHAT WE THINK!

If you've spent a lifetime (like me) allowing your mind to wander all over the place and listening to the constant chatter, it's earth shattering when you finally figure out that it can be reeled in and controlled. When I learned how to do this, it changed my life.

There are a few ways of turning off that worn old record player in our heads. It may be hard at first because it's a habit. I find it's easy to break a habit when I replace it with another habit. So the next time this happens, create a new habit. Everyone has different ways of doing this. Here are some examples:

Find a trigger sound, something that brings you back to the Now like a horn honking, a passing car, a bird chirping, a cell phone ringing, etc. Make that your own personal alarm clock in your head to "Stop the record player!"

Find a vision trigger, something you might see every day, but at that moment look at it like a sign to stop – like the tops of your hands, a ring on your finger or that bobblehead on your desk – anything in your line of vision that says to you "stop the chatter and be present."

Create a mantra. I love mantras because it's my own thing. String some words together like "I am happy, loving, and creative." Choose your own words. Then put that on the record player instead of the old tired conversation you're re-living.

Meditation helped me a lot. I know meditation is hard for many people. The idea of sitting in silence for any period of time can make a person go crazy. But if you can do it for just a few minutes a day, I found that it's a great tool in training the brain.

When I was commuting every day, I would be gone for 12 hours a day and had absolutely no time for meditation. But meditation only means emptying your mind. I would do it on my way to work – no radio, no audio book just silent driving for 10 or 20 minutes. I still take a few minutes at my desk or on my lunch break to, as the Buddhists say, "think no thoughts." This will help train your brain to be silent.

Pay attention to how you feel. If rehashing the conversation is bringing up feelings of discomfort, rage or whatever, pay attention to the feelings it evokes. You'll usually feel it in your stomach or solar plexus. Be with the feeling and notice it. It will go away guaranteed.

These are just a few things that I learned from Power of Now. It's a huge book and Tolle describes many different ways to be present and why it's so important for our lives and the lives around us. It's not a new concept but if it comes at the right time, it could change your life. And the great thing about time and life is that they're happening right Now!