Day 24

Today's Lesson:

I do not perceive my own best interests.

This lesson points out that nearly every thought I have involves some judgment. In any situation that calls my attention, there is some level of expectation or desired outcome. What I do to achieve the outcomes I think I desire is based on my perception of the situation, and we've learned in earlier lessons that my perception is wrong. So it would follow that I would not serve my own best interests.

This lesson takes a lot of practice, because I've been programmed throughout my life to do whatever I can to be right. As a young person I wouldn't try anything new if it meant that I might not be good at it. I would fight tooth and nail to prove that my perception was correct, so I would never have been open to believing that I wouldn't perceive my own best interests. But today's lesson tells us that if we are closed to the possibility that we might not know what's best for us, we have no opportunity to learn. As I see how closed my mind has been, it allows me to alter that perception and allow room for learning.

Miracles I'm noticing:

Just being able to admit that I do not know my own best interests and to be open to new possibilities is a big step for me, and one I've been practicing for almost four years now. In March of 2003 I completed the Landmark Forum, which really gave me openings to new possibilities, and since then I've been practicing. I began studying this Course regularly in January of 2005, so this, too is another opening for a new process. Each week our group gets together, I witness so many more miracles that are happening in each of our lives as we start opening up to the lessons. I'm hoping the other members of our study group will share some of their stories here. We've heard about smoother relationships at home, insights with work situations, new access to relationships of all kinds, past and present, and it's obvious that as we open ourselves to what we're practicing in today's lesson, the miracles come rushing in.

I invite anyone who reads this blog today to share what they're noticing - whether through studying the Course or just waking up in their own understanding - to share what they're seeing in their own lives. What seems to be a coincidence? What can you see that just sort of "fell into place?" Think back to what you were thinking when you noticed that miracle and you'll begin to see that retraining your mind is altering the cause. The effects just naturally follow.