What Do Mike Ditka & Eckart Tolle Have In Common?

I never thought I would say Ditka and Tolle have something in common, but it is true . It's hard to believe, but they both understand the meaning of "being present".

I am currently reading Eckart Tolle's new book A New Earth "Awakening to Your Life's Purpose", and I have almost completed the book and I am finding it to be very powerful and life changing for me.

I wanted to share one passage that will change my life forever. To put some context around the passage I am about to share, it was in a response to a question by one of the readers about being in the present moment. Here is the question:

Would living like this not stop me from looking to achieve something great? My fear is that I will remain stuck with doing little things for the rest of my life, things that are of no consequence. I'm afraid of never rising above mediocrity, never daring to achieve anything great, not fulfilling my potential.

I was having the exact same feeling while reading the book, and the following response made sense out of everything for me.

The great arises out of small things that are honored and cared for. Everybody's life really consists of small things. Greatness is a mental abstraction and a favorite fantasy of the ego. The paradox is that the foundation for greatness is honoring the small things of the present moment instead of pursuing the idea of greatness. The present moment is always small in the sense that it is always simple, but concealed within it lies the greatest power. Like the atom, it is one of the smallest things yet contains enormous power. Only when you align yourself with the present moment do you have access to that power. Or it may be more true to say that it then has access to you and through you to this world.

Then Eckart Tolle discusses how you know you are not in the present moment.

Anxiety, stress, and negativity cut you off from that power. The illusion that you are separate from the power that runs the universe returns. You feel yourself to be alone again, struggling against something or trying to achieve this or that. But why did anxiety, stress, or negativity arise? Because you turned away from the present moment. And why did you do that? You thought something else was more important. You forgot your main purpose. One small error, one misperception, creates a world of suffering.

So how do I swing this around to Mike Ditka and Eckart Tolle having something in common? Well, Ditka gets the whole "being present" thing and he used a quote the other day that summarizes it great, so us laymen sports fans can understand.

"The past is history, the future is a mystery, today is a gift that's why its called the present."