The Power of Now

I picked up The Power of Now by Eckart Tolle,  during the first week of March, even though it wasn’t on my original reading list. A fellow camper here, Aaron who’s been like a brother and mentor since I surrendered highly recommended it. And man, I’m glad he did.
This book came into my life at exactly the right moment. I’ve always been someone who lives in the future constantly thinking, planning, calculating how to get the best outcome in everything I do. That mindset has its strengths, but it also completely disconnects me from what is happening right now. I didn’t even realize how much I was missing by not being present.
Tolle’s message is simple, but powerful: peace doesn’t come from fixing your circumstances or achieving some future goal, it comes from learning how to be fully present, right here, right now. This book helped me slow down the mental noise, the non-stop chatter in my head that feeds anxiety, stress and self-doubt.
What really hit me was how I’ve been viewing this time, the prison sentence, as a something to just “get through”. But through this book, I started to see it differently: not as a punishment or wasted time, but as space for deep mental and spiritual growth. I have begun to find stillness even in chaos, and peace even behind these walls.
One of the biggest lessons for me was learning how to detach from fear, especially the fear of failure and from the stories I have told myself (or that others have told about me). My ego has always wanted to protect an image, to prove something. But I have come to understand that my true self is not defined by my past, by this charge, or by anyone’s opinion. Who I really am is beyond labels, beyond mistakes.
Moving forward, I choose to live in the present moment not stuck in regrets, not worried about what might come next. That shift alone has started to reduce my stress and inner suffering. It’s not easy, but it’s real.
The biggest takeaway? Freedom is not about where your body is, it’s about where your mind is. And when your mind finds peace, that’s when real freedom begins.