I am reading a very good book right now. It is so good, in fact, that I feel it is my duty as a human being not only tell everyone I know that they absolutely have to read it, but if they don’t I am going to find a Voodoo priestess and curse their descendants for 100 years if they don’t.
Yes, it is that good.
What book is this, you may ask? Well, the truth is I feel like a lemming to end all lemmings because it’s an Oprah Book Club book. Oh get your eyeballs off the ceiling. I know, I know.
I pride myself on being original. I try not to be such a sheep. But this time? Bah humbug to the mob mentality. Because good grief the diva of daytime got it right this time.
“A New Earth,” by Eckhart Toole.
(I know, is that his real name? I wondered too. Where is this dude from? Who looks at a baby boy and says, “Let’s name this cherub Eckhart!” I mean really . . . )
Oddball John Hancock aside, the dude is onto something.
Apparently he wrote a book prior to this one called “The Power of Now.” This fact has me slightly confused because that basically sums up how I would describe the theme of “A New Earth” if I were to summarize. This book expounds on the power of the present moment, the now. It essentially flows along with some of my favorite concepts by the guru of self help himself, Dale Carnegie. (If you haven’t read Dale…GASP! I am appalled. Get your fat ass off the couch, shut off the boob tube, run to Barnes and Noble and read his shiz. That man was a genius who published his first book in 1913 and all of his concepts are still highly relevant today. (I only say he “was” because he’s dead as a doornail. Died in 1955. RIP Dale.)
But his wisdom lives on. My favorite book of his is “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.” I know, the title needs work but cut him some slack, it was published in 1948. People weren’t so hot at marketing back then . . .
In this book, good old Dale touted the concept of living in “day tight” compartments. Realizing that the only moment you ever have is the present.
The past.? Yeah, that would be over.
The future? Anyone a gambler? Because that’s pretty much a crap shoot.
Dale promoted living your life one moment at a time. Nothing is overwhelming if you just do what you need to do right NOW. The only thing you ever need to do well is the business at hand. Living that simple concept alone provides the momentum for amazing opportunities. Because that is all anyone ever has: the business at hand. Life comes one moment at a time, so live those moments, and an amazing life will unfold.
In addition, Dale the Man Carnegie also points out in that book how valuable it is to stop having an endless inner dialogue about the past. Oh come, on, we all do it. Does this sound familiar? “This person did this to me, this was so unfair! I can’t believe it! If only this hadn’t happened to me, I could be happy. I still can’t believe I was treated like that!”
What is the point of that crap? Exactly. Knock it off, already. Unless you’re friends with Doc Brown and can get your hands on a Delorean complete with a flux capacitor you’re shit outta luck.
Like I don’t have a long list of grievances against people? Oh, trust me, I could brood and dwell for a month straight if I wanted to. Make that six months. Possibly a year. I have been betrayed, let down and unfairly judged. I have been lied to, cheated on, and taken for granted. I have been gossiped about, ridiculed, and just plain forgotten. (“Was it your birthday yesterday?” Yes, Mom, it was. Thanks. Thanks a lot.)
And let’s face it. I spent all my adulthood pouring energy into a future that, well, looks nothing like I thought it would. The big D? Yeah, who plans for that? I sure didn’t.
I got plenty of junk. Trust me.
But all of these circumstances originated with decisions that other people made. I had no control. I can feel sad about them at the time, but beyond that, not my problem. I can’t control anyone else, and so I just let it go. And control my own attitude (which is the only damn thing left in this world I can hang on to with certainty and call my own!)
And as for the future? Well, other than spending a few minutes mapping out your retirement plan with your financial advisor, the future isn’t really worth truly spending a lot of time on either. See that big bus coming down the street? Yeah, well, it could smack you right into the asphalt. Make you a pavement pancake. So much for all that energy you just invested worrying about a tomorrow that never transpired, huh?
Because newsflash, the future never really arrives. It is always and only “now” that we have.
Deep, huh? Oh yeah. You know it. (Are my brunette roots showing?)
Eckart Toole touts a similar concept in “A New Earth.” He also promotes the “power of being present” with a very detailed explanation of ego and identify. (I know, when I hear “ego” I think arrogant as well. That is because I majored in English, not Psychology.) Apparently the “ego” is just a term for all the labels we assign ourselves and attribute to our identity: who we are. Like me: writer, business woman, mother, divorce’, friend, blogging blonde…yep, all that…is ego. And apparently the ego is kind of a bastard. We are all very attached to who we are, where we have been, and where we are going.
It’s all quite entwined.
And can be a terrible distraction to your life’s purpose: being so caught up in defining ourselves through our labels, our past, and our future.
It actually sounds exhausting. Yet according to good old Eckhart, it is exactly the main pursuit of every single person day in and day out. And “A New Earth” encourages people to step outside of that and really get down to living. Forget the past. Forget the future. Forget endlessly trying to forge external connections that define your value, your ego. Love yourself. Love the moment you are in. And viola . . . wow, life can be this amazing experience if you simply recognize the gift that is the present moment. The now.
So here’s to you, Eckart and Dale. And yes, Even Oprah.
And here’s to me. Just a lemming of a bookworm. Who wants to raise my glass in salute to your promotions of self help.
But I can’t dwell on these accolades for long. You see, I have to run. I have a life to live, which happens to be happening . . .
. . . right now.
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