Day 74

Today's Lesson:

There is no will but God's.

This idea is an extension of yesterday's (I will there be light) and is the central thought toward which all our exercises are directed. When we recognize that today's lesson is wholly true, we see that our will is God's. There is no room for conflict and peace has replaced the idea that any goals can be in conflict. We have no goal but God's.

Since today's idea is wholly true, there can be no room for illusions, and illusions cause conflict. Therefore, there is only peace.

Joy characterizes peace. As we think about today's idea in our exercises, we will recognize that we have reached peace when we experience joy. If any thoughts of conflict cross our minds, we are to repeat today's idea as often as necessary. There is definite gain in refusing to allow retreat into withdrawal, even if we don't experience the peace we seek.

Miracles I'm noticing:

Today is a great time to repeat my 2007 mantra: "Listen and Allow." As I get quiet and just listen to what's going on around me, I find that I'm much better able to allow the Spirit to shine through. It doesn't sound like the best business plan, I guess, but it's sure allowing me much better presence of mind and clarity of thought.

I was interviewed last night by Michael Mink of Investors Business Daily as a contributor to an article he's writing about Lisa Haneberg's new book Two Weeks to a Breakthrough. Michael asked me to tell him about my book The 100% Factor and how it might compliment Lisa's. He asked about how I set goals. It was interesting for me to describe this rather new "Listen and Allow" concept. He didn't quite see how that could possibly help me in business - after all, don't we have to be goal-oriented and driven to make our businesses successful? I realized that my book really does lead into Lisa's book because once you decide that you could live a fuller life - there might be something you'd like to do more of or less of or try new and Lisa's book gives you a wonderful basis for achieving one of those goals in two weeks or less. The dialogue with Michael proved to be a great exercise for me and gave me an opportunity to talk more about my life philosophy and the work I've done over the past four or five years to get to this point.

We ended up talking about all kinds of things and it occurred to me that my genius - inviting dialogue - is alive and well. Michael called at 9:45 my time (he is in L.A.) and I don't think we got off the phone until midnight. Michael's deadline is today, so I hope he got what he needed for his article - and got some sleep.

I notice the shift in myself as I remember that there is no will but God's. There was a day when I would have been nervous about talking with someone in L.A. about what it's like to live in Fargo - what my opinion is about a concept - what my ideas have to do with anything. People don't believe me when I tell them that I used to be very unsure of myself and worried about saying or doing the wrong thing but it's true. I noticed last night how easy it was to converse with Michael even though he spends a lot of his time talking to pro basketball coaches and players and other prominent businesspeople. When I just listened and allowed my Spirit - and God's will - to be present, there was no struggle for what to say or how to say it. That's surely a miracle (as is my ability to slow down and recognize the shift!).