Submitted By: Liyana Rehman
Profession/Lifestyle: Stay-at-home mother and part-time calligrapher
Book Title: The Power of Now
Author: Eckhart Tolle
Before the Book: Trapped in a Mind That Never Slept
There was a time in my life when I felt like I was alive but not really living. I was there — folding clothes, making meals, helping my son with homework — but I wasn’t present. My body was in the room, but my mind was far away, spinning in a never-ending loop of worry, guilt, and imaginary disasters.
I’m a 34-year-old mother of two. I left my studies halfway through when I got married and moved cities. I don’t regret my life choices — not entirely — but a quiet, constant whisper inside me always asked, What could have been?
I used to be creative. I loved calligraphy and Urdu poetry. As a teenager, I dreamed of publishing a book of poems someday. I wanted to live a life full of meaning and peace. But that version of me seemed like a distant memory. Somewhere between diaper changes and budgeting groceries, I lost touch with her.
My mind became my enemy. Every day, I carried the weight of yesterday’s mistakes and tomorrow’s fears.
“Why didn’t I finish school?”
“What if something bad happens to my husband while he’s driving?”
“Am I doing enough for my kids?”These thoughts felt real. They had power. And they drained me. I would often lie in bed at night staring at the ceiling, replaying old arguments or imagining worst-case scenarios. I was constantly trying to fix the past or control the future — both impossible tasks.
Discovering the Book That Changed Everything
I stumbled upon The Power of Now in the most unexpected way. I was listening to a podcast while doing the dishes, and the host casually mentioned the book, not as a recommendation, but as something that changed her relationship with her thoughts.
The title intrigued me. The power of now? I didn’t fully understand what it meant, but I was curious enough to look it up. A few days later, I ordered the book online.
It sat on my bedside table for a week before I opened it. I wasn’t expecting a miracle. In fact, I thought it might be too spiritual or abstract for me. But once I started reading, it felt like Eckhart Tolle was speaking directly to the deepest part of me.
One line in particular stopped me in my tracks:
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the now the primary focus of your life.”
I read it over and over. I put the book down, closed my eyes, and breathed. Not to reach a goal, not to be productive, just to feel the breath. Just to be there.For the first time in years, I wasn’t chasing or regretting. I was simply being. And it felt… peaceful.
After the Book: Coming Home to the Present
Reading The Power of Now didn’t fix my life overnight. But it gave me a new way to live it.
I began practicing presence in small ways:
- When I made chai in the morning, I paid attention to the sound of the boiling water.
- When my daughter laughed, I listened without reaching for my phone.
- When negative thoughts came up, I didn’t fight them. I just noticed them and let them pass — like clouds drifting across the sky.
I stopped trying to change what couldn’t be changed — the past. I stopped fearing what hadn’t yet happened — the future. And in doing so, I started rediscovering the version of me I thought I had lost.
I picked up my calligraphy pens again. I began writing short poems — not for anyone else, but for myself. I wasn’t trying to be perfect. I just wanted to create and be fully present in the act of creation.
Most of all, I became a calmer, more mindful mother. I stopped reacting to every little tantrum with anxiety. I started listening — not just to my children, but to my own thoughts, without judgment.
There are still difficult days. But now, I return to the breath. To the Now. To what is real.
My Favorite Line & How It Helps Me Everyday
One quote from the book that stays with me is “All problems are illusions of the mind.”
It sounds extreme, but it’s not. What it means is that many of the problems we feel so intensely are just thoughts, stories we create in our heads. When I feel overwhelmed, I ask myself, Is this happening now? Or is it just a story in my mind?
That one question pulls me back to reality — to the present moment, where life is much simpler than my anxious mind makes it out to be.
To Anyone Considering This Book
If you’re someone who constantly lives in your head — overthinking, replaying, forecasting, fearing — The Power of Now might be exactly what you need.
It doesn’t ask you to escape your life. It asks you to step into it. Fully. Consciously. Lovingly.
This book showed me that peace isn’t found in the future. It’s not found in perfection. It’s found in presence. In the soft moments of now.
If I, a tired, overthinking mother of two, can find that peace, so can you.