I have recently read one of the most inspiring and life-changing books: “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. The book covers the topic of accessing the power of “now” — the present moment. Tolle explains that by accessing it, we acquire true peace. This book was truly revolutionizing for me. Ironically, I changed my total perspective on perspective. I would recommend this book for anyone aspiring to have a starting point on obtaining a peaceful life.

Before & After

Before reading this book, I felt like four years of life had flashed by. I looked in the mirror and could not recognize myself. I could compare my conscious state to auto-pilot mode on an airplane. I was moving and interacting with people, but not really living life and listening to people as I should have. I felt so distraught about not living how I would have liked. Noticing my feelings toward my recent life decisions, I needed to change this as quickly as possible.

I started to try to make this change by reading heavily. I came across the book “The Power of Now.” I took my time reading and ingesting this amazing book. I felt amazing. I was actively paying attention to everything. My past problem of not paying attention enough and not taking the moment fully had diminished. For the first time in my life I knew what it meant to be “high on life,” and I was fully engulfed in bliss and contentment.

I credit this wonderful transition to changing my perspective on the present moment. Instead of me looking at the present moment as a prolonged trial to a heavenly future, I took the mental stance that literally every second matters. From then on, my life has continued to only go upward.

Personal Story   

A personal example of perspective changing my life recently would be my confidence. My confidence in the beginning of my teenage years started on a slow decline. This was around the same time I started to lose focus of the present moment. I was afflicted by the nuisance of compulsive thinking or over-thinking. I quickly lost sight of who I was because I was always thinking of the future. I didn’t take advantage of great opportunities because I was crippled with the fear of future judgment of others — an example would be me choosing to quit making music. Even though people would tell me my music was good, I just quit.  I would constantly do this with many other aspects of my life.

After reading “The Power of Now” and changing my perspective to say, “Relax, don’t take life overly serious to the point you’re not enjoying it.” This shift in my thinking immediately increased my confidence. It was an overnight magical process. It took practice of repeating this to myself when I noticed feelings of self-doubt, but it was revolutionary. A perfect example is when I’m in the boxing ring sparring with someone, I can now breathe, relax and focus on the task at hand.

I had made a small shift in my perspective to be comfortable in my own skin. From that point forward, I have been more confident than I have ever been in my life, and it truly is relaxing. As I’ve been going through life lately, practicing the power of now, the world around me is not so frightful. I believe in myself and my ideas a lot more. Our lives are just a mirror of our perspective.

If you take away anything from this simple read, I hope you truly start to live your life from this very moment right now. “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle was extremely helpful in guiding me to realize that everything literally stems from  this very moment.

Yahoshua Reece, 17, attends Ola High School and really likes music, like, he loves it.