Tough morning. I feel a little hungover. I went to the wake last night of one of my cousins who died of cancer, and since I come from a large Italian family, it was what you would expect such an event to be. Laughter and tears. My cousin, Sammy, who I shall always remember for his long blond hair and sparkling blue eyes, was my age and way too young. Took the long drive to Medina with my “girl cousins,” as I like to call them (because whenever we are together we all still feel like we did when we were eleven) and we got lost on the way home because my cousin SuzAnne knew of a better way than my GPS system was offering. Sammy would have appreciated how much fun we had on that ride. Got home and ate a quarter bag of low fat kettle chips–and dip–along a half of a light beer while reading the newspaper. Typically, it takes a bit more than that to give me a sluggish morning hangover, so I suspect my low energy today is a little more about the “circle of life,” than anything else.

This morning I did what I usually do when I wake up to a quiet house. I grabbed the handful of books I keep behind my bed and began paging through them to see if I could send a little infusion of light to guide me through the gray clouds. I stocked up on new books last Saturday during a trip to Barnes and Nobles, but I think I’m going to have to fall back on my current favorite, “A New Earth.”

“A New Earth,” is the book that inspired Oprah to create a global website classroom a few months ago. It’s Eckhart Tolle’s treatise on how to find peace and happiness now, through understanding that we only have this moment and time and that to live our best lives and find our true purpose, we need to fully immerse ourselves in now. One of the few things I’m sure about is that this book can be life changing. I return to it regularly and just open it at random to remind myself to stay present. As Tolle says, the past is gone and the future does not yet exist. The only thing that is real is this moment. This now. Smell it, savor it, live your best life in it. Anybody who missed the classes can check out Oprah.com to watch the video. It’s one of the many reasons I appreciate Oprah, who keeps plugging away, trying to change the planet, using her power for good, despite what some people say. Sure its hard to take life advice from a billionaire, but in her soul, she’s an “everywoman,” and her work on the planet is changing peoples lives. How many people can say that?

As for me, I’m looking forward to my return to yoga, this evening.