Introduction

Have you ever felt stuck with an assignment at work? Does that voice in your head make a constant disturbance and interfere with your activities?Have you ever reacted impulsively, even for a situation you knew that it was not in your best interest?If the answer to any of these questions is yes, then this is the perfect book for you. This book will teach you how to calm the voice in your head through the personal experiences of the author.Dan Harris is a famous American journalist. He also worked as a news anchor for the popular TV show Good Morning America. This is the story of how Dan Harris found peace of mind and how he found self-help that actually works, through practicing meditation. Dan concluded that meditation makes him 10% happier.In this book, you will learn how to make peace with your inner voice and enjoy more serenity. While you cannot turn off the voice inside your head, you can make it your best friend.

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Air Hunger

Having a voice in your mind is normal. We sometimes use it to distinguish right from wrong. We use it to tell stories to ourselves, or to remind ourselves to do something. This voice is something that keeps us moving forward on the right track and helps us to decide what we want to do with our lives. It can be our best friend or our worst enemy. When we feel bad, the voice is here to support us, but at the moments of insecurity, it can ruin us. It can make us react inappropriately and make mistakes.Dan Harris is an ordinary guy. Like millions of Americans, he was born and raised in a normal family. Both of his parents were doctors.He was expected to continue the family tradition and became one, too. Despite his family’s expectations, he decided to follow another path: since Dan was a teenager, he was eager to become a journalist.

His first job was in one of the smallest television networks in America located in Bangor, Maine. Although it was not a glamorous job, Dan was happy and satisfied to do it, because he had a bigger picture in his mind.Dan moved from Bangor to Portland, then to Boston. As he moved and developed his career, he covered bigger stories. Reporting was his stairway to the position he wanted.Seven years later, Dan was finally in New York, with one of the most prestigious television networks, working with legends of TV news. Dan aimed to become one of them. He covered stories in the war zones and through these assignments he got used to the rush of the adrenaline. Dan never once doubted if this was the right position for him. He was hungry to be on the air; he was hungry to achieve his goals. Dan became one of the youngest and most successful news reporters.

His assignment in Pakistan was his first big break. Dan had never left the United States before, but he found himself in a luxurious hotel in another part of the world. This first task was followed by many others. Dan reported from war zones all over the world, and although he thought he remained calm and unaffected by everything around him, he was in fact, in front of actual weapons.Dan returned to the States, but he felt a great longing for that adrenaline rush. He was feeling down emotionally and he tried to find a solution to feel happy and alive again. Dan became friends with the wrong people and he started using drugs. The brief moments of happiness while under the influence of drugs gave Dan a false feeling of being alive. He would wake up in the morning, craving for that sense of high again.Dan felt miserable, he had anxiety. The wake-up call for him was when he had a panic attack while reporting live on national television.

As the anchors at the studio introduced him and the camera focused on his face, suddenly Dan froze. He was paralyzed by anxiety and completely unable to speak. Millions of people in their homes watched as Dan sat, stunned on national television. Ale to speak at last, Dan fumbled the names of the studio anchors and cut the report short.Dan realized then that he had to change his life. He realized that using drugs to make himself feel happy was a big mistake.Dan consulted with a psychiatrist, he stopped using drugs, and he changed his old habits. He realized that his hunger to be on the air, to be on the live news, was more important to him than anything. Dan stopped partying and seeing some of his friends.He decided to focus on one thing: covering his next news story to the best of his ability.

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Unchurched

Dan Harris built a good reputation by being a war reporter. The next step he took in his career was covering religious conflicts and church congregations. His parents were kind and Dan enjoyed a happy childhood, but they were not very religious. When Dan was nine years old, his mother told him that there is no Santa Claus and there is no God.Dan ended up reporting from various churches and exploring all religions across the United States. From war zones with bullets and bombs, Dan moved to another war zone – a peaceful one where the battles were won with words and verbal debates.As a new challenge, Dan was eager to do proper coverage of all religions. He packed The Bible and headed off on a trip to Israel, Egypt, and Iraq to report from the countries where religion is an important aspect of life.

By the time Dan got back home, he had learned that his mentor Peter passed away, which led to some changes with the TV station. Dan was assigned to the Sunday news division.Even while dealing with his panic attacks, the new job position, the load of work, and occasional drug cravings, Dan never became religious. He only looked at religion from a journalistic point of view. He wanted to cover religion for the news and for the audience interested in that topic.Dan continued interviewing pastors from different churches. He met Ted Haggard, the leader of the New Life Church.  Ted had a huge following in Colorado.Dan respected Ted and the two became friends. Dan listened to Ted’s beliefs and teachings.It came as a surprise when Dan discovered that Ted was involved with a male escort. Behind Ted's god-fearing, kind pastor image, he was secretly having an affair with a man who was dealing drugs.

The male escort saw Ted on TV and contacted Dan’s network.  The escort had enough evidence to prove the truth. Pastor Ted, who preached against homosexuality, was a father of five children and leader of thousands of believers, had been living a double life all along. The whole media industry raved about this scandal.Meanwhile, Dan Harris met a woman named Bianca and fell in love. Dan, the famous journalist and macho-man, was captivated by Bianca’s beauty. Dan found a best friend and soulmate in her. Bianca moved to his apartment three months later. Their relationship became stronger and Dan was able to sort out his private life once again, which resulted in him becoming more motivated at work.

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Genius or Lunatic?

Everyone reaches a point in their life when they begin to feel old.Insecurities surface in our minds, making us question our looks, our careers and our relationships. It is easy to feel unhappy because of these insecurities.We may begin to question our jobs, our future security and our family life.If these thoughts continue, the inner voice in our head may take control of our actions and choices and prevent us from living life to the fullest.The inner voice will control us with fear.The inner voice may keep bringing back our past regrets and creating constant worries about the future.At the age of 37, Dan Harris was not the youngest reporter in the office anymore. In fact, he was one of the oldest. Many of his colleagues had left to find other opportunities.

Dan reported about an Amazon tribe deep in the rainforests of Brazil. He saw that people there continue living like our ancestors many centuries ago. This tribe had no expectations for the future and they were much happier. This experience triggered a few questions in Dan's mind.He reflected on his insecurities about his job, about his future, and his receding hairline. He was worried that he might go bald. Dan had that voice inside his head once again. He looked at himself in front of the bathroom mirror. He thought that if he lost his hair, it would be the end of his career.At home, his steady relationship with his fiancée Bianca gave Dan the relaxation that he wanted. However, the constant running from story to story and the hunger to be on air raised insecurities in Dan. He became worried that aside from being a TV news personality, he didn’t have any other skills.

While Dan was shooting another story, his coworker mentioned a book entitled “The Power of Now” by Eckhart Tolle. Dan became interested and he read the book. The book was a best-seller and the author has earned a good reputation. Dan thought that this could be a good story. Dan learned more about Eckhart Tolle, but he could not decide if the author is a genius or a lunatic. He thought that Tolle copied his ideas from somewhere.Dan spent hours of reading and researching about Tolle. He finally decided to do an interview with the author so he could ask him some questions.Although he did not receive the answers that he expected, Tolle led Dan to think about the ego that we all possess. For Tolle, the ego was more than pride or intense desire. Ego is the voice inside our head. It is our “sense of I”.

Dan realized that he was constantly thinking about the past or the future.His mind was too preoccupied, and he could not stop to focus on the present. The voices inside his head were always talking about his insecurities.Eckhart Tolle said in the interview that people need to stop worrying, instead they should make peace with the present moment.Some people face every day like life is an obstacle; they just want to get through this moment to be on the next.Tolle explained that if we are at peace then we can complete powerful actions.Dan asked Tolle a simple traffic question: ’What if you are driving on a busy road and another car cuts in front of you?’ Tolle said that he wouldn’t take it personally, for him this would be just another gust of wind.

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