The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle
I started reading The Power of Now yesterday. I’m only up to page 14, and have seen some promise in this book as part of my journey of discovery. Bare with me — I have to ramble on a bit to explain things, and I’ll get back to the reason I’m referencing this book in a few moments. Trust me.
I have to start from the beginning a little so you can see where I’m headed with this. In 2010 Doreen (by the way, this is about me — just figured I’d tell the story about myself in this manner to make it a little more interesting) was turning 45 years old. She started to reevaluate her life, and, through situations and circumstance, started www.timetoplay.com, her quest for quality of life. Don’t get me wrong, Doreen has a great life. A wonderful, devoted husband, 3 lovely children and a house. She knows she has more than many, but there was a hole. Having worked in healthcare for over 24 years, Doreen has seen sick and sad and people with regrets. If you read the about us on the timetoplay site you will see that she noted that she’s always been searching, never seeing the beauty, joy, etc. around her — she’s always been just too busy. And, at this point, she realizes she’s created this “busy-ness” as her reality.
We know that so many things get in the way of enjoying life — something I’m sure a majority of the people feel day-to-day. We just try to get through the day, right? Getting up, getting everyone out of the house, getting to work, being exhausted, heading home, making/having dinner, falling into bed REALLY exhausted, and starting over the next day. Days become weeks, the year flys by. . . you know what I’m talking about. Doreen realized she missed out on the little things, the beautiful sunny day, the smile, the bird chirping. So, here comes the idea for timetoplay.com. She has this brainstorm, “If I feel this way, how many other people are in the same rut?”
So, to the present — I (with a lot of help from Leta) built timetoplay.com to help myself learn how to enjoy life, and I figured I’d take a million people along with me. The timetoplay philosophy is you have to be happy, healthy, have money and a work life balance. All these areas are so important, HOWEVER, you can’t just identify / realize that you have a problem or obstacle, but you have to learn things you can do and easily implement so you can fix the problem or obstacle and . . . bottom line. . . ENJOY LIFE! After all, we’re all here for a short time. And so many of us seem to be tortured now a days — society’s gotten so many people down. No job, no money, struggling to make ends meet. WHO HAS THE TIME TO ENJOY LIFE? We have to make this a priority. We deserve to enjoy life. Think about it. We do.
I’ve built an amazing team of professionals from whom I’ve already learned so much, and I encourage you to check out the resources on timetoplay.com so you can, as I intend to, have a better life and to enjoy life.
Back to The Power of Now: I’ve only just started reading this book. On page 12, the paragraph reads: “. . .The inability to feel this connectedness gives rise to the illusion of separation, from yourself and from the world around you. You then perceive yourself, consciously or unconsciously, as an isolated fragment. Fear arises, and conflict within and without becomes the norm”. This paragraph is regarding enlightenment. The author is speaking about a disconnect we may feel with our God, spirituality, or our being. BUT, I also believe it is a disconnect between each other. So many of us feel the weight of the world on our shoulders. Again, re: job, financial security or bills, taking care of the family, etc. Even if that’s not it, maybe we feel alone. So many of us are so isolated today. This brings us to the discussion of prescription drugs and how people are using them as a crutch or band-aid. I have talked about band-aids before in blogs or things I’ve written. We don’t look for the root cause, which is one of the goals for timetoplay.com. Now we go to a doctor and say we feel this way or that way and they write a prescription. Is is the doctor’s fault a person is addicted to a medication (see article I had referenced, Antidepressants used by 11 percent of Americans: http://timetoplay.com/blog/?p=204).
No, it’s not all the doctors, but US, looking for a way to escape a reality we can’t handle. A reality society has created and we have created, ourselves. If people were happy and enjoying life, I really don’t think they would be taking the medications to try to cope. Other coping mechanisms people use to escape or pacify themselves are eating, alcohol, sex, exercise, smoking, anything in excess. Anything they can use to try to regain control.
So, join me in my quest. Here’s the place to join in on the discussion forum under book club and book reviews: http://timetoplay.com/forum/showthread.php/63-THE-POWER-OF-NOW-by-Eckhart-Tolle?p=103#post103
Are you reading something that can help someone in their journey, as well? Please post. That’s the ultimate goal of timetoplay.com. We all have something we can offer each other to help each other have a better life. It’s time to enjoy life.
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Embrace the timetoplay.com philosophy: You have to be happy, healthy, have money and a work life balance to have a better life. It’s time to enjoy life.
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