The Power of Later

shutterstockEckhart Tolle Gave Us The Power of Now. Coronavirus Gives Us The Power of Later.

Yes, of course, there are crucial things to do now. RIGHT NOW. Immediately and urgently. We know about those and we’re doing them.

The problem is that our hearts and minds can’t keep up with all of the genuinely crucial and urgent things we need to do. So as we busily wash our hands and buy canned food and stay away from each other, our insides are spinning because the reality of NOW is genuinely terrifying.

What to do about schools is one of the many maddening parts of our Now.

The Harvard students I know planned to come back to campus to study, take their final exams, and graduate. But in this gray, drizzly Now, they’re wondering how to complete their first-rate education over Zoom and apply for jobs through social distancing. First-year Harvard undergraduates live together in Harvard Yard. In their bizarre and bewildering Now, they’re commanded without notice to evacuate the premises. Move out of the dorms where they live within a few days. Move Now. But move to where?

What about visiting students from South Korea or Italy? For them, as with many students who can’t go to school for the foreseeable future, this Now is a nightmare.

Now is Not All We Have

Here is where the beauty of Later comes in. Because it’s frankly too nerve-wracking to keep all of our mental and emotional focus on the Now.

When the cancellations and the lockdowns and the rising number of cases is more than your mind can handle, imagine lovely things that will happen….Later. When schools make you stay home, only teach classes online and shut down your dorm….imagine a joyful and productive life…Later. When this is over. When we’ve made it to the other side. Later.

Consider that people in Wuhan are starting to go back to work. New infections in China are falling. Travel restrictions are relaxing. The tide is turning.

Back in January, the city of Wuhan with 11 million people was in lockdown. It was likely impossible to imagine the easing of fear and suffering. Their Now was too painful and all-encompassing to envision a Later when the lockdown was over. Yet here they are, the people of Wuhan, slowly emerging from that terror and loss. Their Later has arrived.

Now it’s our turn – all of us who didn’t start this journey in China. In the US and in Europe and in Australia and in…well, everywhere that isn’t China…it’s our Now that is mind-bending and panic-inducing. It’s our Now that we can’t predict and don’t understand.

In every age bracket and stage of life, we need to continue every hour of every day to take every action needed in this crisis. We are and we will. To do that for weeks or months, we need to give our hearts and minds a break once in a while.

We have the power to do it. The Power of Later.

Look forward.

Picture yourself at work – at the office, with colleagues. See yourself playing sports with your teammates. Going to a conference. Flying on a plane. Fast-forward the clock in your mind’s eye and see yourself in your normal routine. Running your errands or running your business or simply out for your morning run. Picture your 5th year college reunion when you’re talking with former roommates. You’ll remember the insane, unprecedented madness of the spring of 2020 and give a sigh of relief that’s all behind you.

Later will happen. Our Later will come.

Hang in there.

You can read more about my perspectives on coronavirus at Forbes.com

4 thoughts on “The Power of Later

  1. tielag

    “It’s our Now that we can’t predict and don’t understand?” This is a misunderstanding/misuse of NOW, which, by definition is not in the future and therefore cannot be “predicted.” How can we predict the present? Listen to Eckhart Tolle for more on this subject.

  2. Ferdinand Alexander

    At least seemingly it appears there’s a misunderstanding regarding what is often called, “the Now.” Now is not a moment in time sandwiched between a so-called past and future. Not only is Now all there is, Now is what All is. All apparent forms, thoughts, sensations, emotions, are passing, fleeting, moving along in time, never stopping to be, indeed, never stopping to be Now. Only Now is Now, You are Now or you have no existence at all.

  3. Krista

    Yeah I think you’re a little confused on what “NOW” means. Now does not mean the current state of world affairs, health, and economy. Now means your experience in this exact moment of existence. If you think being in the Now means being subject to anxiety about the Coronavirus, then you’re not in the Now. When one is totally present there is no anxiety over anything.

  4. Alice

    Thank you!
    I believe the author misunderstands what Eckhart Tolle is saying about The Now. All we can do to help others, and ourselves is to know who we really are. And that, I believe, can only be realized in the now.

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