January 5, 2020
Lesson 5 –
I am never upset for the reason I think.
This lesson always reminds me to stop my mind and ask for a different interpretation. My egoic thought system wants me to be upset and therefore not thinking clearly. When I think with the egoic thought system, I rush to judgement and come up with a mistaken perception. We all do this, and do it more often than we think we do. The signal we get is our upset. How would we act differently if every time we felt upset we stopped and reconsidered our thoughts and perceptions? Perhaps our world would be a little more peaceful. Perhaps we would be just a bit happier. It doesn’t matter what our upset of the moment is. What matters is that we recognize we are upset and then stop and look within to see the root of our upset.
This idea, like the preceding one (These thoughts do not mean anything), can be used with any person, situation or event you think is causing you pain. Apply it specifically to whatever you believe is the cause of your upset, using the description of the feeling in whatever term seems accurate to you. The upset may seem to be fear, worry, depression, anxiety, anger, hatred, jealousy or any number of forms, all of which will be perceived as different. This is not true. However, until you learn that form does not matter, each form becomes a proper subject for the exercises for the day. Applying the same idea to each of them separately is the first step in ultimately recognizing they are all the same. W-pI.5.1:1-6
We needn’t obsess with any of this. The most effective way I have found to practice this is to be gentle with myself; to take a step away from my upset and try to observe my upset objectively without judgement. If I continue to feel upset, I can come back to this process later. Our wholeness is guaranteed. We are whole and complete and always will be, even if we don’t feel that way right now. When all else fails, ask Spirit for guidance. Our Higher Holy Spirit Self is always waiting in our mind; waiting for us to ask for guidance when we need it.
Perhaps we have just begun this journey. Be patient. Allow yourself to grow step by step. We have spent a lifetime learning to think with our egoic thought system. It will take some time to learn how to think with our One Mind – the Mind we share with all of Creation in Oneness. The change we are seeking is a change in the way we think – changing our thoughts. This process is more about allowing rather than making effort or forcing change. Relax and allow Spirit to move in your Mind. The upset you have been feeling will begin to abate. The upset will lessen. We may even fool ourselves begin to smile just a bit to know that our upset is not about the specific feelings we are having about specific situations or people. We are upset because we are out of touch – unaware – of our true Self in Oneness. The Course’s purpose is to help us return to the awareness of our true connected Self in Oneness.
In these exercises, more than in the preceding ones, you may find it hard to be indiscriminate, and to avoid giving greater weight to some subjects than to others. It might help to precede the exercises with the statement:
There are no small upsets. They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind. W-pI.5.4:1-4
Try to accept the idea that all upsets are the same. They may appear very different to us, some more difficult than others. Try to be willing to accept the idea that they all have the same magnitude for they all come from the same misperception; that we believe we are separate. Again, be gentle with yourself. Every experience we have, every one we encounter, is a perfect opportunity to practice this concept. Be willing and see where Spirit takes you. You just might be surprised.
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