Since I started reading Eckhart Tolle’s “The Power of Now”, I am trying to become fully present in my daily activities. According to Tolle, by living in the present moment we can overcome the cause of many of our sufferings and eventually find inner peace…
Let’s face it, I eat way too fast and wolf down my dinner before everyone else. I am often told I need to slow down but I usually brush it aside. However, this really is a sign that I am having problems living in the present. Heck.. many times I can’t even tell you what I ate because I was thinking about a past or future event instead of being fully present with my meal…
…But, can anyone really live in the present all the time and function in society. After reading “The Power of Now”, I found a video about a brain damaged man who is forced to live in the present. The first clip below is from a TV documentary and features Clive Wearing , a man who only has 10-30 seconds of memory-living in the present to the extreme! I thought it was sad and fascinating at the same time…
Conversely, I found a video about a woman who cannot forget the past and remembers everything eventful in her life including the good and mostly the bad. In both cases, there is great suffering and I think finding the middle ground of being present when necessary probably suits me the best. The question is knowing when to be fully present…
