The Power of Now

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Imagine that you are reading a book. It is a a great read, a murder mystery. You are near the end of the book and it is nearly evening. You know that the murderer will be revealed somewhere towards the last page.  A friend walks by:

“The butler did it,” he casually remarks.

You throw the book down in disgust and shout angrily at your friend.

“You’ve spoilt the book for me by revealing the murderer.” You storm off.

Later, I ask you if you are happy and you reply no.

Here’s another version of the story:You are on holiday, lying on a sun lounger in the sun and reading a book. Beside you is a glass of cold white wine. After a particularly hectic time at work it is great to relax and read the book. It’s a good book and you are engrossed in its intricate plot. You feel contentment.

I walk by and ask how you are.

“Great, life’s perfect, I’m so happy to be able to just chill out and let all the stress of the last few months just fall away.”

I spot your friend walking towards you.

This story illustrates the two selves that reside in us all. One is the memory self or the rememberer. It was that self that was replying when I asked how you are after your friend revealed the murderer.

The other self is the experiencer, the one that I talked to when you were reading the book.

The experiencer self experienced several hours of absorption in a book. This felt great. It then had a short time of anger when the end of the book was revealed.

The rememberer reflects and decides that the angry feeling was the most important factor in the day, even though it was experienced for a lot less time than the experience of reading. It then makes a judgement on the day based on feeling angry, not the much longer feeling of happiness or pleasure.

Positive psychologists research and write about happiness. They ask the question, what makes you happy?

If I ask you the question are you happy, then the reply can depend on which self is talking. The rememberer may reflect on your life, remember a difficult childhood and difficult relationships and conclude that you are not happy. The experiencer may give a different answer if you are enjoying yourself in the present moment.

Because the rememberer is using subjectiveness and judgement, can you rely on it for a reliable answer to the question are you happy?

One of the reasons why Ekhart Tolle’s book The Power of Now is so successful, is that it appeals to the experiencer. He urges us to stop dwelling on the past  which is the rememberer self. Neither should you dwell on the future, which is an aspect of the rememberer that anticipates the future based on past memories. By being aware of the now, you firmly place yourself in the experiencer self. Unburdened by the rememberer, you see the present, and begin to see what is here.

You see the smile of a child, white clouds drifting in the sky, smell roses, listen to the birds singing. You experience happiness.


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