How to Handle Life's Challenges with Grace | Eckhart Tolle

As much as possible, have the main focus of your attention in your daily life, in the present moment, the rest of your attention. So that's the main focus here, is this. The rest of your attention is where you want to go to. Whatever task you're engaged in has a certain purpose. The purpose is you want to finish the task and it has achieved its purpose. And that's here. And that's in the peripheral vision of your consciousness. That's where you want to get to. And this is what you're doing in order to get there. And your main attention is not where you want to get. And in the meantime, you're just doing it in order to get there. You can see how that already creates an inner stress. I'm here, but I want to be there. That's a normal way of living is the main part of people's attention is there. But in the meantime, they are here where they don't really want to be, rather be there, as shown in famous stickers, bumper stickers on cars which say something like, I'd rather be fishing. When I visited Ram Dass, the spiritual teacher who has now passed away, he lived on Maui. On his car I saw a bumper sticker which said, I'd rather be here. Now that's a good teaching on a bumper stick. So your attention is, and this is a reversal almost of how humans normally usually live. It's the opposite. And that is in itself already a shift in consciousness. And then, of course, you're also aware of the past. There are certain things that may have relevance in the present. That's fine. So peripherally, past and future, usually future is more important because you're moving towards that. And here's the central vision of present moment. In the present moment, you're either actively doing something or you are more passively perceiving something. You are there as an observer, or you are just there, not actively doing, but simply perceiving. That could be. When you travel back from here already, you might be sitting in a car. If you're driving, you're doing something that's particularly important to be present. Or you might be sitting on a plane and there's a good opportunity for being the. You go into the witnessing mode. There's nothing particular to do unless you get out your laptop and start doing. That's fine. And sometimes situations arise that are problematic. That's quite normal in life. They are challenging rather than problematic. And then you face the challenge. You look at it, so to speak, not necessarily visually, but you give it attention that this is the challenge instead of unconscious reactivity, the challenges your flight is cancelled. It's not one of the greatest challenges a human can have, but some people react as if it were. And when any challenge arises, is there anything I can do to respond to this situation? Or is that something where I simply have to say, well, for the time being, accept the way it is, because right now there's nothing I can do. I heard, for example, at some airports, they're so busy, not sufficiently staffed people, when the plane lands, they're still trapped on the plane for two or three hours. It has happened in Toronto and other places. That's a good opportunity of surrender. Some people can't do that. They start screaming and shouting. No particular purpose, but they can't help. Happens to them. So always the question, is this an opportunity for surrender or is action called? That is some practice to get used to until it becomes second nature to have your attention in the present moment rather than elsewhere. And it usually implies you are aware of your surroundings that's inseparable from being in the present through your senses. A more alert human being than a normal human being, but an alertness in which there is no tension. Often alertness in a human is associated with being tense. But there is an alertness without tension. But it's not enough to be just aware of your sense perceptions. That's a good thing. It also can help you to avoid dangerous situations that otherwise you just stumble into and you don't know how you got there. You're more alert of your surroundings. You see how animals in that sense are very alert because if they are not, they get eaten by other animals. So many animals have this incredible alertness. Not the same as the human alertness, but it is an alert awareness of their surroundings that many humans don't have. They walk in the street and they're not really there in their mind thinking about all kinds of things except where they are. And so they're not here. Where's the bird sitting on a branch or the deer that's stepping out of the forest? There's a field and the deer stops for a moment and. And the ears, they are very huge ears. They go. And it can hear probably a hundred times better than a human or a bird on a branch sitting. It goes like this and then suddenly it goes. And of course there's no decision making involved. When a bird suddenly flies off, it did not think, I'm now going to fly off this branch and I'm going to. It just happens. There is a flow to life. There's no mind There is a consciousness there but there's no conceptualization at all but when an animal rests an animal also rests completely it is completely at rest not thinking about my life I have to figure something out what's the purpose of it all this is why it can be very healing to live with an animal yes it can be quite a bit of work too but it can be very healing to live with an animal and to have an animal presence in the house dog, cat usually this unproblematic existence except when the dog or cat are neurotic which can happen but there are reasons for that usually connected to their early life just like human childhood when things go wrong in childhood leaves traces but usually dogs and cats normal state is unless they're hungry or want to go for a walk they can be really rooted in being and joyful the cat purrs the dog's tail wags and it's a joy just to see it sat.