# Read this book and no more Social Anxiety



## mikesmith (Nov 1, 2010)

I have not posted much on this forum and my last posts were from June 2010. It was around this period that I had just left university and my social anxiety really peaked. It got to a point where I could not speak to a stranger (but also close friends and people I know) without my face going red. I was a mess basically. I was embarassed just walking the streets. The lasts weeks of university were a nightmare.

Anyhow, it was in October of that year that I happened to stumble across the book The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. The title just jumped right out at me. I was just expecting another self-help book, but one that shows me how to focus more on the NOW. What I did not anticipate was that my life and the way I see this world would change forever.

Social Anxiety I think is almost certainly a thing of the past for me. Well, maybe I am not 100% there yet (but, to be honest, I forgot all about Social Anxiety), but I feel myself growing in confidence every day and notice me doing new things all of the time and realise I would never have done these things before in the past.

Now, thing about me is, on the outside my life does not appear to have changed at all. I am actually in a worse situation on the outside. I still do not have a job. I still do not have a girlfriend. I still do not really have a social life. I am 24 going on 25. And the past two years (almost) since I left university I have experienced the hardest period of my life with recurrent suicidal thoughts. I feel like it is one thing after the other. I have been back and forth the hospital and doctors with physical problems (sports accidents) with have taken their toll mentally. And of course it has been very frustrating at times seen as my life on the outside is still - according to this world - a big mess. And the fact I am not getting any younger and feel like I am going nowhere.

The thing is, all the problems I have faced these past two years, if I had never read this book, I would probably have commited suicide by now. I feel so sorry for all those who have suffered and have not been exposed to this book. I do not know how they are able to cope. The book is also a real eye opener to the suffering that is going on around you.

If I am honest, the biggest changes for me came from the authors second book - A New Earth. I recommend that you read the Power of Now though first. And then after you have read this you should get the other book. I am not sure a lot of the things in the second book will make sense if you have not read the first book. 

How to describe the book? I have tried for the past half hour or so to describe what this book is all about but I give up. It really is just about living in the NOW, yet it is also so much more than that (or so it seems at first). All I will say is this book is greater than The Bible. And this sounds a bit crazy considering I have never read The Bible. I say it is better because it does what the bible does it much less pages. But do not be put off if you are non religious. This is not a book about religion. It mentions religions but it not a book about religion. I am not religious, never have been, never will be. It is a book about spirituality. More precisely though it is a book about LIFE. 

Do not put off. Buy this book NOW. I swear, if you 'get it' your life will never ever be the same again. The world will never seem the same again. I am not living in the NOW and I am still a slave to my mind most of the time, but even so, it has changed me so much. And every now and then I experience the NOW and the inner peace and joy that come with it. If the world was to read The Power of NOW I swear there would be no wars and we would all coexist peacefully.


----------



## broseph (Jan 18, 2010)

Haha, I read the title and was like "ok, he's either talking about Eckhart Tolle or Tony Robbins". My friend introduced me to Eckhart in High School while I was in a pretty bad depression. The way it lifted me up was magical. These days, Tony Robbins has more of an effect on me than Eckhart. He has a totally different approach and objective than Eckhart but I've found that I resonate with him and he's been more helpful for me in reducing my social anxiety.


----------



## JenN2791 (Aug 21, 2011)

Glad to see this book has helped you quite a bit. I'm going to have to check out this book as well.


----------



## Cileroot (Mar 6, 2012)

Googled it.

Is this the book? Is it the full version? If it is, then it's available for free.

http://www.mindwell.be/ebooks/thepowerofnow.pdf


----------



## mishimishi (Apr 21, 2012)

thank you for sharing this information. I will definitely try to find this book and buy it. I am glad it has helped you so much.


----------



## Jeffrey F (Apr 25, 2012)

Thanks mike, I will give it a read once I have finished my current non-fiction. I all ready hold the firm belief that how our mind thinks (or does not) is to key to happiness and not external factors (other than a freedom from physical pain).

Though I am likely to disagree with the author's explanations for the why of such phenomena, from what I have read in the wiki his methods seem agreeable with some of my philosophical beliefs and practices. I've noticed this trend before in some new age literature: that the main flaws (at least in my opinion) are in the unnecessary supernatural explanations for mental and physical phenomena which can, if not now at least in the future, be explained in scientific terms.

What matters most is the results, but it is a shame that such books are very indigestible for rational skeptics due to the explanations, and that such people then miss out on the material.


----------



## mikesmith (Nov 1, 2010)

Pretty sure the book is more than 145 pages TBH. Check Amazon - 224 pages it says. You can get it free online though definitely. Check The Pirate Bay.


----------

