Book Review: The Power of Now.

Many of us spend our lives looking for happiness, fulfilment, and

peacefulness. We seek it in a variety of ways, including accomplishments,
relationships, experiences, and materialistic stuff. According to The Power
of Now, the only way to experience genuine happiness and satisfaction is
to be completely and deeply present in each moment. The more we live in
the Now, the more we may connect with ourselves as we are and truly
enjoy life, without unnecessary ideas and theories fogging our brains and
changing our perspective of what is around us.

The Problem: We Spend Much of Our Time Consumed in

Thoughts
What will be in dinner for tonight? I should have participated during that
class. I wonder if I’ll get good grades. I really want that car. I have to
remember to buy bread and eggs on the way home. All of these thoughts
distract us from experiencing the present moment.
Our thoughts often focus on the past or the future. However, we have no
control over either of those, the past is over and the future isn’t here yet.
So, we are in an endless cycle of wasting our mental and emotional
capacity on things we can’t control. The only moment we can impact is the
present.
When you focus on the past, you feel guilt, regret, dissatisfaction, sadness,
bitterness, and unforgiveness. You also carry old pain from your suffering-
body, the unseen pain you have experienced in your life. The suffering-
body is like infection that feeds on negativity and leads us to think and act
emotionally. And also, when you focus too much on the future, you create
anxiety, tension, and stress.

Your Ego Causes Problems:

Why are so many of us driving ourselves crazy by worrying about things we

can't control and distract ourselves from the present moment? The inner
voice in your mind, is responsible for this never-ending mental battle.
The ego is a part of your mind that is trying to have control over your
thoughts, feelings, and actions. Your ego creates a fake identity from your
involvement in groups and communities (such as gender, nationality,
and profession) as well as your past pain and experiences. Your memories,
experiences, upbringing, education, work, gender, political opinions, and
nationality, according to the ego makes you who you are.

All of these aspects of the ego made identity are based on external forces.
If you feel that your identity is formed by external elements such as your life
experiences, occupation, and political views, then any new experiences,
career changes, or challenges to your political beliefs have the ability to
shake your identity.

In fact, your ego, is keeping you from connecting with your real identity.
Your Being is a pure energy that is present inside you and is unaltered by
external forces and situations.

You can only be your true self when you are present, not thinking about the
past, the future, or the ego-created fake identity. Inner peace can be
achieved through reconnecting with your true self with the help of
presence. The ego therefore blocks you from being present and from
experiencing inner peace.

By analysing your thoughts as if you were a third-party observer to your

own mind, you may disconnect from your ego and connect with the person
you really are. Consider the idea, "I wonder what my next thought will be."
Wait and see. While you are in this state of presence and alertness, your
thoughts will most likely delay for a moment. You've just observed your own
thoughts. When you can remove yourself from your ideas, even for a little
while, you have temporarily disconnected from your ego. You are totally
present and in touch with your true self at the moment.

The Solution: Be Present in Every Moment

Because the past only exists in memories and the future only exists in
assumptions, being present allows you to experience the only moment that
is real ‘Now’. The only effective antidote to the ego and suffering-body is
presence. Much of our pain and distress is self-created, as a result of
feeding the negativity of the suffering-body and the ego's ability to fill our
minds with worry about the past and future.

Being present has no effect on your outside situations. When we face

difficulties in life, being present allows us to deal with them in the present
moment. The added tension of our ego-controlled, concerned thoughts just
makes obstacles appear even more difficult. We have greater mental ability
to deal with these obstacles when we are present.

Life is made up of cycles of success and failure, with each one serving as
an essential step to the next. When you are present, you must accept the
hard times as well as the accomplishments as part of the current reality.
Why challenge an inevitable cycle?

If your thoughts are in the past, future, or some imaginary scenario, you are
not in the present. If you find yourself in a difficult or challenging situation,
you have three choices:

• Adjust the situation.

• leave the situation.

• Accept it, and say "it is what it is” for the rest of your life, or at least until
things change and you can take another action.

Accepting the present means to acknowledge that it already exists, and

that no amount of, complaining, or worrying will change this current
moment. You can, however, take one of the first two actions and make
steps to change or leave the situation.

Is it easier said than done? No, Presence and mindfulness is a simple

concept but is not necessarily an easy practice. Most of us allow our egos
to take control of our lives, so keeping our focus on the present will be like
a muscle that requires time and training to strengthen.

How To Be More Present:

The key is to stay aware of both your mind and your body. Your physical
body is an indicator into your mental and emotional state.
Have you ever noticed you get up from a project and how stiff your neck is?
You may not have been aware of how stressed or tense you were, but your
body gives you signals. Listen to your body to determine when you need to
take a moment and bring your focus back to the present.

Similarly, your body is a tool for bringing your mind back into the present
moment. Putting your attention on your body will bring your mind back to
the present moment. Connect with your inner body or state of being: Pay
attention to your breathing. Relax your body. Close your eyes. Take a few
deep breaths. The more frequently you connect with your inner body, the
more mindfulness you can maintain. When you are present, you will not
stay there. Therefore, you will need to remind yourself and practice, and
eventually you will spend more time in the ‘Now’.

Benefits to Others by Being Present:

Being present benefits both you and the people around you. Because you
interact with others from a place of inner peace, presence allows you to
have genuine connections and relationships with them.

When your ego is in charge, you frequently react to people based on the
worry, stress, fear, anxiety, guilt, pain, or anger that your ego and suffering-
body are generating. This has an impact on everything from day-to-day
interactions to friendships and romantic relationships.

The general absence of humans sends negative energy into the world
around us. That negative energy has an overall negative impact on the
planet. This is a minor point that is never completely addressed but is
mentioned occasionally throughout the book.

Personal Opinion:

Firstly, I did not really connect with the “Power of Now” when I read it, since
I am new to meditation, so I am planning to re-read it soon in the future to
see if I'd like it more. It was and is heavily promoted, I read this book
because it was recommended by “Hamza” a self-improvement YouTuber,
but I didn't get much insight from it, though it did highlight the importance of
presence and mindfulness, which I guess helped me start my self-
improvement journey and take it more seriously. Also, the author quoted
some Texts from “Bible” which I really did not read.

Recommendation:

Should I recommend this book to someone? Well, it depends, I can not

recommend this book to someone unless they are into the niche of self-
improvement and seeking for advice, which sadly many of us are not
looking into.

One Small Actionable Step I Learned from This Book:

Try becoming aware of the things you do on automatically. Consider that

step very carefully. Consider every chew and bite you take. I know it
sounds absurd at first, but our “Attention Span” sucks because of YouTube
Shorts and TikTok. It’s a long talk. But consider doing some research on it,
and you will get the point. By practicing mindfulness, you will be more
present and you will begin to notice opportunities everywhere.

Rating: 8.7/10