Today’s Lesson:

I am determined to see.

Before we can see things differently, we have to come to the realization that the way we currently see things may not be the most effective. But this Course is very deliberate in its efforts to not be coercive. As we know from our own experience as employees, parents, friends, co-workers, it just doesn’t work to “make” anyone do anything. Today’s lesson shows us that the only thing that is required for seeing the world the way we want to see it (seeing happiness and peace instead of sadness and upset) is our decision to see.

Today we are asked to think of the lesson at least twice an hour and apply the lesson to any situation, person or event that upsets us. It is possible to see them differently, and we will. What we desire we will see. The lesson tells us that this is the law of cause and effect as it operates in the world.

Miracles I’ve noticed:

Today’s lesson really reinforces some of the coaching I’ve been using during my training session the past couple of years. One of our “assignments” is to fight the 2 D’s (defensiveness and debating) with the 2 L’s (listening and learning). We start to realize that anything that causes us to be defensive or want to debate is just a signal to us that if we listen differently we surely will learn something. That’s why we have the physical reaction to the upset.

Another part of the training is defining our objective when we want to solve a problem. We need to be very clear about our intention and to also be committed to solving the problem. Sometimes it’s as simple as realizing that what we have been doing hasn’t given us the results we’d like – hasn’t helped us achieve our objective. We’ve all heard the definition of insanity: to do the same thing over and over and expect different results. Now is the time to stop the insanity.

It is no coincidence that today’s lesson reinforces the points from this week’s training. And I think that’s probably true for everyone who reads these posts. I’m pretty sure if we all recognize in our own lives the way we are determined to see, we will notice how the lessons reinforce whatever we’re dealing with in our own lives.

As I am determined to see, the results of my seeing – both “positive” and “negative” – become very clear to me.

What are you noticing as you become determined to see? What’s been there all along, but hasn’t been revealed until now?

Today’s Lesson:

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.

So it’s not only the effects of my seeing, but also the effects of my thoughts that I share with everyone else. It really doesn’t matter whether the thought comes first or the seeing comes first because thinking and the results of the thinking (the seeing) are never separate. Cause and effect go together.

This lesson reminds me of the part of The Secret where they talk about monitoring your thoughts. Joe Vitale says that it will seem difficult at first, but that’s where the fun comes in. It may seem impossible or maybe even unfair that each of us has to be responsible for our thoughts because they affect more than just the one thinking them. But it helps to remember that we are all connected. When I remember that the other members of my study group are also working on the same lesson today, I almost feel a sense of relief because there is an unspoken accountability partnership in place. As I understand the effects of my thoughts on not just me but each of them as well, I see a little more clearly how each of us is part of the healing of the universe.

Miracles I’m noticing:

The text for today emphasizes the need to free ourselves from fear quickly, “because you must emerge from the conflict if you are to bring peace to other minds.” This shows again how I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my thoughts.

I had dinner with my friend Dave a couple of nights ago and we were talking about how nothing exists in a vacuum. Whenever there is a void of information, for example, our minds will automatically fill it in with fear because we’re so conditioned to expect the worst. A previous  TUT message said “The one who prepares for adversity, Jodee, builds not a bridge of retreat, but one upon which adversity advances.” Why should we be surprised about the state of affairs in our world these days? I read an article somewhere about worry and the effects of worry on health. Worry is almost exclusively present only in the mind. Think of how much stress we could alleviate in the world if we just concentrated on filling in the gaps with positive energy instead of the automatic negative energy we allow to seep in.

And speaking of miracles, here is another TUT message:

The reason most people don’t recognize the miracles that are performed on their behalf, Jodee, is because there’s just so bloomin’ many of them.

Like this very moment…

And this one…

And this one…

The Universe

One of those things that makes you go “hmmmmmm……”

Today’s Lesson:

I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.

I’m thinking this morning about how I see things. If I concentrate on noticing what is wrong in the world, then I will see everything as I think it should be instead of how it really is, which is neutral. If I am wanting to prove that I’m right about the way I think of something, I will always be looking for justification instead of just noticing what is. There is something both comforting and also kind of disturbing about knowing that I am not the only one who sees the world this way. When I realize that we are all connected, it becomes more effective for me to create dialogue with others using myself as an example for what I’m noticing, which brings more unity and support to my waking up process. If I try to teach what I’m learning by pointing out ways people are doing things “wrong,” I don’t build rapport – I end up pushing against something and, by pushing against what’s “wrong,” I actually give it validation.

As the text for today says, “to concentrate on error is only a further error.”

Miracles I’m noticing:

This fits very well with the manufacturing training I’ve been conducting for the past few years. The premise of the training is to show the attendees a 4-step method for solving problems with people they supervise. The upside down thinking we’ve been conditioned to see would point out problems – things that aren’t working – and have us “solve” them. Part of the challenge is the context we’ve given to the word “problem.” We’ve traditionally believed that “problem” = “bad” and so some of us avoid shedding light on that problem. Our more comfortable action is to avoid the problem. But the class defines problem as “anything the supervisor needs to take action on,” which really doesn’t have a context built in.

Today’s text goes on to say “the initial corrective procedure is to recognize temporarily that there is a problem, but only as an indication that immediate correction is needed.”

As we all learn this distinction – as well as all the distinctions we are learning through this Course and even the training I conduct – all of us expand in our thinking. Each of us is an integral part in the whole of humankind. That goes back to today’s lesson – “I am not alone in experiencing the effects of my seeing.” It’s the effects of my seeing – and effects come after the root cause is understood.

We talk a lot in this class about the root cause, which is a manufacturing term in the quality assurance realm, but really applies to everything this course is teaching as well. When I’m awake to what I’m noticing, the lessons apply to everything in my life. In fact, as I read the text for today, I notice that everything I talk about every day has some relationship to what I’ve studied that morning. As I go to classes to teach, I am teaching the attendees that this new way of seeing the problems they have with people they supervise will be a new process and will take practice to perfect. It’s a skill they can develop over time with consistency and commitment. That’s no different than what I’m learning in this course, which is a new way to notice the effects of my thinking.

The text says “readiness is only the prerequisite for accomplishment….As soon as a state of readiness occurs, there is usually some degree of desire to accomplish, but it is by no means necessarily undivided. The state does not imply more than a potential for a change of mind. Confidence cannot develop fully until mastery has been accomplished.” I’m noticing in my class that as I tell stories about myself and how I can relate to their “problems,” they are much more open to hearing suggestions for themselves. After all, we are all connected anyway.

As before, this lesson follows the previous format. It makes sense logically, because if I have no neutral thoughts, I would see no neutral things. I think the things I see cause the thoughts I have, but it is really the other way around. We typically think we will believe it when we see it because we need proof – we need the world to show us the way we think. It’s really like a Wayne Dyer book I’ve seen “You’ll See It When You Believe It.”

This is just another way to show us that we’ve got it all backwards in the way we’ve typically been thinking. This is true of things we would call “pleasant” in addition to things we would call “unpleasant.”

Miracles I’m noticing:

As I look around me in my hotel room, I notice the TV, the lamp, the mirror (which holds my reflection, with my hair sticking up all over) and I tell myself “I do not see a neutral TV, lamp, mirror or reflection of myself because my thoughts about TVs, lamps, mirrors and myself are not neutral.” Especially as I think about my own reflection I realize that I really do not have neutral thoughts about myself. I notice that I do have some judgment about everything. Just noticing that the thought precedes the thing is pretty amazing. This means that logically I really have no reason to be upset or crabby or even joyous – because those thoughts do not need reasons. As I can unlearn and undo those beliefs that have been running on autopilot for all these years, I can begin to see that I actually could see neutral things if I could retrain my mind to have neutral thoughts, which would allow me to get rid of all the conditioning and judgment that seems to automatically show up for me.

I’m also getting that even the judgment I notice around the things I see actually means nothing, so I don’t have to beat myself up by attaching meaning to judgment. Just working on seeing things neutrally could allow me a breakthrough in everything – even the way I see myself.

Today’s Lesson:

I have no neutral thoughts.

This lesson shows that there is no such thing as an idle thought. My thoughts either produce love or they produce fear – if it’s not one, it’s the other. There is no in between because there are no neutral thoughts. This really shows the importance of recognizing when thoughts are fearful and when they are loving. All today’s lesson is asking me to do is to notice and practice recognizing that any thought that comes into my mind is either fearful or loving – nothing is neutral.

Miracles I’ve noticed:

Just recognizing that any thought I have is either true or false – loving thoughts are true and fearful thoughts are false – reminds me that thoughts about people are not neutral either. I really notice my automatic judgments when I allow myself to just notice. The good thing about this practice is that my thoughts really don’t mean anything – I’ve created all the meaning that occurs to me. I can see how if there is only love or fear and neither means anything anyway, the introduction to the Course makes more sense logically. The introduction says:

This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time. The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.

This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:

Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.

Herein lies the peace of God.

It has occurred to me quite a few times recently that there are very few opportunities in “real life” where people get a chance to let their guards down and get real with their feelings and thoughts. During our Course study nights, we often talk about how much people (we) tend to worry about what other people think about us, which always forces us to monitor our actions and also forces us to continue this upside-down thinking. I’m realizing more all the time during conversations when I make a conscious effort to observe the talk that we really are much more alike than we are different, and if one person had something to say – a question to ask or a comment to share – it is because we all need to hear it at some level. Another thing I’m realizing is how grateful I am that I get many more chances to live in that space of open communication when I facilitate or train. What I’m learning in this Course shows up all over my life as I learn to integrate my training into my everyday life. I’m much braver about sharing what I’m learning in ways that aren’t threatening to everyday audiences and I’m much more aware of the effects of my coaching and teaching by watching the reactions of the attendees. I realize that as I work to live what I’m learning, it automatically invites others to join me in practicing open communication.

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Today’s Lesson:

My thoughts do not mean anything.

This is just slightly different from a previous lesson which said “these” thoughts do not mean anything. As I was practicing that idea by looking at objects and people around me, now I’m working on personalizing the lesson with any random thoughts that come into my mind.

What I’ve found really interesting about this re-training of my mind is the awareness that it brings to what would have been random “stuff” in my head before. I use a similar idea in some of the training I conduct, including the training I’m doing this week. We take 20 seconds and just listen to the voice in our heads – just to start noticing those 60,000 random thoughts. That’s the first step to being able to do something with those thoughts – noticing them. Again I’m reminded of The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz where he talks about “domestication” and how we almost mindlessly agree with the programming from our childhood, and about how the thoughts in our heads have either a “victim” or a “villain” voice to them. Just noticing which voice is usually speaking is like turning on a light in a dark room. As I can start to realize that my thoughts really mean nothing when I can be objective about them, I can then create new opportunities free from those past judgments and agreements. (more…)

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