Thank You, Eckhart

I mentioned earlier that last fall I read The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. It was the right book at the right time for me. I couldn't get out of my own way. I was thinking in circles and didn't know how to stop. I didn't like where I was in my life, and I was terrified about where I was going. Eckhart Tolle had been in that same place. He changed his life and then wrote a book about it, hence The Power of Now. It is a how-to guide to transform your thinking and bring joy into your life. It is personal and practical, and I am now reading it for a second time.

Eckhart didn't plan to write a sequel, but a few years later another book needed to be written. His next book, A New Earth, teaches how personal transformation can transform the world. I bought the book and started reading. I found it more conceptual than the first book and harder to put into practice.

Enter Oprah. She recommended the book to her audience. Then she took the idea of a book club to a whole new level. Oprah started a series of talks with Eckhart Tolle on Monday nights and invited people all over the world to watch and participate. There were some technical problems with the first show, and I wasn't home the second Monday, so I put the series aside and continued reading. Then I discovered that the whole series of talks between Oprah and Eckhart can be found on Oprah's website. I watched the first chapter last night and the second chapter this morning. I am hooked.

Each conversation is an hour and a half long. Oprah and Eckhart talk abut the chapter, and people around the world ask questions that Oprah and Eckhart answer. They relate each chapter's topics with what they talked about the week before, without trying to cover every detail. I feel like I am listening in on two friends talking at their kitchen table over coffee. Their conversation helps me relate the ideas in the book to my own life. I would benefit from eaves- dropping even if I hadn't read the book first.

Again, this book came at the right time. I need to know that there is a way to think positively about the future of the world. I am an optimist. In the face of world events, it's tough to hold onto optimism about the future. Eckhart's books have provided the tools to change my own thinking and to think that the world can change, too. Thank you, Eckhart.