Yeah I think most of us do that. Then, if yer like me, you look for the next great secret in the next book. I think the most baseless and mundane of personal development books can have value if you actually do something with it.

I remember Antnee (Anthony for you folks without any Italian heritage) Robbins said it best, over a decade ago, when he said he had no problem spending $10,000 on a seminar if he got at least one thing of value out of it. Taking economies of scale in mind (yer not a millionaire) we should be actively using the information we get from books or seminars.

I’m a big fan of Mike Dooley. If you haven’t listened to his audios or read his books, that’s ok. A lot of what he talks about is also discussed by other spiritual gurus but I like his presentation. Anyway, one of his primary teachings is that we all have a higher self that is made from the divine. We consciously decide to discard our divinity and return to Earth to have a human experience.

Now, there are many ways to interpret what we should be doing now that we are here. For me, I think the Ego is a primarily Earthly concept, by definition. So, would I necessarily want to discard ego to become divine like my higher self? Doesn’t my higher self already have that covered?

The ego, and gratification of the ego can absolutely be a tool to accomplish some pretty cool things. This is my tool of choice right now, and The Power of Now serves me no purpose at this time. If we want to talk about present-ness, I make sure I meditate ten minutes a day using Meditator for the ITouch and I do yoga two to four times per week.

The fact is, if The Power of Now hasn’t spoken to me four times in my life so far, I owe it no obligation to try it again right now. I also reserve the right to change my mind tomorrow on that, five years hence, or twenty years hence.

I hope I’ve been able to explain myself a little better, and I do appreciate the debate. I certainly hope my tone is not coming off anything less than respectful and engaging.

- Charley

It is admirable that you work to take care of your wife and children. It would be a shame for dissatisfaction to mar such a noble achievement.

I know this is just one article. I haven’t read the rest of your blog, so please look past any judgemental tone as that is not my intent. I just wanted to leave this comment because I read the comments from your last post, and apparently I am your only reader who has read The Power of Now.