3 Insights from Eckhart Tolle That Will Change How You Handle Life’s Challenges

This week, I was part of an online retreat led by Eckhart Tolle, the author of the best-selling book, ‘The Power of Now.’ What struck me wasn’t just the depth of the concepts, but how relatable Tolle was. He was funny, used real-world examples, and clearly lived what he preached.

‘When I’m not working, I don’t walk around like I’m a spiritual teacher,’ he said with a laugh. His practical approach made highly intellectual concepts feel light and accessible. I want to share a few that struck a chord with me:

1. Meeting Life’s Challenges With Consciousness

Tolle asks us, With what consciousness do you meet challenges in life? Are we able to look at them without being reactive or complaining? Are we at the mercy of others when it comes to our inner state?

I can relate to this strongly. For instance, I just heard this section of the retreat and went to the kitchen to make dinner for my son. I was juggling making a protein shake, pasta, breadsticks, and roasted veggies in the short time that I had before he came back home from his activity.

He jokingly made a small remark, and I instantly snapped. Can’t you see how I’m juggling so many things? I said. The wise kid in him knew I overreacted, and he let it go.

I should have been the one to let it go, knowing he was messing with me. This was exactly what I learned about handling challenges in our lives. I got caught up, rushed through the process, and reacted.

This reminded me of one question from the talk – If we can’t master small daily challenges, how will we master big ones?

We can start by practicing small things: navigating tricky conversations at home, handling someone cutting us off in traffic, or other similar everyday situations.

The bigger the challenge, the greater the opportunity to go deep and learn. There is so much to learn even in the smallest ones if we can be present.

What about challenges we can’t control? How do we handle those, I wondered, before it led to the concept of polarities.

2. Polarities in Life — Order and Disorder

Someone in the audience asked Tolle about something that most of us grapple with every day.

“How do I stay calm when the news is so depressing? I find it triggering my childhood trauma, and I have a hard time with it. How do I cope and have the courage to face it?”

I could relate. Whenever I watch too much news, it makes me feel helpless and frustrated.

Life is made of two polarities – order and disorder. Nothing stays the same forever. We have periods where things are relatively calm and others where they are challenging.

Instead of becoming angry, afraid, or reactive, if we can remain conscious, we can resolve it.

When we see chaos in the world we can’t control, we have a choice: stay conscious or get swept up in it.

During such times, it also helps to reflect on how to deal with people who have different views from ours.

3. Seeing People Beyond Their Personalities

“I don’t focus on people’s personalities. I am more interested in the being,” said Tolle.

How often don’t we come across people with different beliefs from us? If we alienate everyone who thinks differently from us, there won’t be many people left in our circle.

Oftentimes, the people with different belief systems are the ones in our own family, or a neighbor you see every day.

So how do we get past that?

The key is not to confuse the toxic opinions and beliefs of people with who they actually are. We don’t have to make their views their identity.

Having this kind of mindset helps us in everyday conversation with coworkers and with anyone else we come across in our daily life.

Bringing Consciousness Into Everyday Life

Throughout the retreat, a common thread emerged: the consciousness we bring to any situation determines everything.

Whether it’s snapping at our kids when we’re rushed, getting triggered by world events, or dealing with people who think differently from us, the main question is: With what state of consciousness do we meet this challenge?

The next time a neighbor brings up politics we disagree with, we can remember that their opinions aren’t who they are.

Consciousness isn’t something that happens in the future; it’s built by noticing the small moments of each day.