Author and spiritual leader, Eckhart Tolle. offers a lot of wisdom that we all can benefit from in our lives.
Here are eight lessons that especially ring true to Tolle’s overall message.
1. “Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose.”
Once you’ve set a plan in motion to improve things, or in some cases not, there is no point in worrying any further. All worry does is cause anxiety and stress, it doesn’t actually serve any useful purpose. Just let the worry go whenever humanly possible!
2. “In today’s rush we all think too much, seek too much, want too much and forget about the joy of just Being.”
Television, the internet, mass transportation, social media, books, work- when do we ever get out of the world’s we create in our head. Rip yourself away from you brain back into your body, so that you can enjoy the simple joys all around you.
3. “Wherever you are, be there totally. If you find your here and now intolerable and it makes you unhappy, you have three options: remove yourself from the situation, change it, or accept it totally. If you want to take responsibility for your life, you must choose one of those three options, and you must choose now. Then accept the consequences.”
Take responsibility for the situation you are in right now then decide how you are going to act. Waiting until next week or next year to make a change just puts off the inevitable. If you want to stay the same, own staying the same. Otherwise, it is time to move on whatever the consequences may be - and change can even be fun.
4. “When ‘my’ toy breaks or is taken away, intense suffering arises. Not because of any intrinsic value that the toy has – the child will soon lose interest in it, and it will be replaced by other toys, other objects – but because of the thought of ‘mine’. The toy became part of the child’s developing self, of ‘I’.”
All of our belongings are part of our ego that inhibits of from enjoying life. By learning to detach from the importance of objects, we also learn to let go of the selfish pride that comes with owning objects
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5. “People tend to dwell more on negative things than on good things. So the mind then becomes obsessed with negative things, with judgments, guilt and anxiety produced by thoughts about the future and so on.”
When our brain gets on a certain course, positive or negative, it is easy for it to stay on the course. When you think positive frequently, your brain will automatically trends towards positive thoughts. On the other hand, if you think negatively it is easy to get into cyclical negative thinking.
6. “Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.”
Our ego and pride wants us to hang on for as long as possible, but sometimes it is a lot braver to let go of something that no longer serves us. Remember that life is not a competition to see who can hold on to something the longest, so free yourself to move on from anything when the time seems right.
7. “Living up to an image that you have of yourself or that other people had of you is inauthentic living.”
Part of learning to reach your true potential is knowing your strengths and flaws. There are certain character traits that every individual is born with that makes them special. When we try to mock the traits of others we come across as fake, and deep down we know that we are just putting on a show. The simple way of putting this is to be the most real version of yourself, just be yourself with the flaws and all.
8. “On a deeper level you are already complete. When you realize that, there is a joyous energy behind what you do.”
Often when people look through self-help sites like this one, they are searching for something to add to themselves. Soon they discover that all of the advice is pointing back to them, because the ability to be content already exists on the inside of everyone. Happiness is not something we find externally- we find it within.
Which of the lessons from Eckhart is your favorite?
