“If you no longer want to create pain for yourself and others, if you no longer want to add to the residue of past pain that still lives on in you, then don’t create any more time or at least no more than is necessary to deal with the practical aspects of your life.

How to stop creating time?

Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.  Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.  Whereas before you dwelled in time and paid brief visits to the now, have your dwelling place in the now and pay brief visits to past and future when required….

Surrender to what IS.  Say YES to life and see how life can start working FOR you rather than against you.” -Eckhart Tolle The Power of NOW

This is absolutely one of my favorite reads! This basic, yet beautifully complex idea, has intrigued & inspired millions around the world with three million copies sold.  Why is living in the present moment so difficult for most of us to do? Why does surrendering to it cause fear to arise within us?  Because the ego cannot live within the present moment.  It can only exist in the past and the future. Therefore letting go of it, creates panic and wreaks havoc within, for the ego knows that you can no longer engage with it once you allow yourself to simply be PRESENT. While the ego is always a part of you, and can serve as a healthy tool, it’s important to understand the difference between the upper ego and lower ego (you can read more on a previous post by clicking on this link).  The lower ego evokes a low frequency vibrational pull where the upper ego only knows high frequency vibes.

Surrendering and opening up to our divinity is a scary experience at first, because we are training the monkey mind to come to a full stop and focus our attention to the beauty of the present moment.  Stillness can be chock full of intensity because we are finally shedding a light on suppressed emotions to allow for healing to take place. Healing can ONLY happen once we find that stillness.  Stillness can ONLY happen once we are present. Presence can ONLY happen once we face our truth. Truth is bravery.  Truth is seeing who you have become. Truth is divinity.  Truth is NOW. Now is PRESENCE.  Make the NOW the primary focus of your life. Meditation is hard for most of us because quieting the mind seems like an impossible task. It’s a process! The work is indeed hard, but the reward is beyond great.

I’m not saying that you MUST meditate in order to find presence, but what I am saying is that being present can offer a different way of life, where every day mundane tasks can be witnessed through a much more meditative state of mind. Where your mind is much calmer.  Where you’re no longer reacting to life but co-creating with it.  The mindset of “why me!?” is transmuted to “whats for me?” no matter how positive or negative the situation may be. This is what I know to be true. And truth is everything. For me, my daily practice of meditation has become my blissipline, which is why I speak of it here.  It can be different for you.  It might be taking time to cultivate self love by doing  your favorite activity.  It can be running, walking, writing, singing, whatever it is that forces you to stop and enjoy all that you are and all that is now.  It’s about celebrating the beautiful being that is YOU without all the loud chatter and cries of the ego.  I invite you to read this book and incorporate the simple act of  presence in your daily life. This simple practice yields a magnanimous gift that will shift everything. The time is NOW.