Day 31

Today's Lesson:

I am not the victim of the world I see.

Today we are asked to think about whatever we see in the outer world, but also whatever we see in the inner world, while applying the lesson. We will escape from both together, for the inner is the cause of the outer. We are to notice any thought that comes into our minds throughout the day and repeat today's idea to ourselves as often as we care to, but with no sense of hurry.

This is the beginning of our practice of declaration of release. We are reminded that this is a declaration of independence in the name of our own freedom. In our freedom lies the freedom of the world. The lesson says that today's thought is particularly useful to use as a response to any form of temptation that may arise. It is a declaration that I will not yield to it, and put myself in bondage.

Miracles I'm noticing:

I'm reminded of a statistic I've heard several times and in several places that we have 60,000 random thoughts going through our heads in any given day. And if we really notice those thoughts instead of letting them be so random, we will notice that they have two distinct voices: the voice of the victim and the voice of the villain. Today's lesson gives us a declaration to combat the voice of the victim.

In the class I'm teaching this week, we actually take 30 seconds and listen to the voice in our heads, which is probably the first time many of these people have taken the time to do that. In fact, there are some who, when I ask after the 30 seconds if they heard something in their heads, will say no, until I say - as Ben Zander does in the training video "The Art of Possibility" - "if you were thinking to yourself, 'what voice? I don't know what she's talking about, voice in the head': that's the one I mean."

If we're not even aware that we do have voices other than our own going through our minds, it would probably be easy to really believe we are the victim or the villain. Today's lesson is a great reminder that we are not the victims of the world we see.

I'm still thinking about what I learned about myself at last night's gathering (see the last part of yesterday's post for a update). There was a time in my life when I used to think of myself as a victim of my upbringing. I remember watching TV shows that depicted the life I wish I'd had and wondering how I'd gotten so unlucky to have been born where and when I'd been born (and how I'd gotten so unlucky to have the jobs I'd had and the friends I'd had, etc. etc.). Realizing that I am not a victim of the world I see really allows me to alter that thought process. I really do see how this allows freedom for me, and, consequently, for the world.

What do you notice when you practice today's lesson? How does it feel to get rid of the victim mentality? What is opening up for you?