Day 20

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 two weeks. 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 this blog. 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.

Here's another miracle: Lisa Haneberg called me yesterday to interview me for her Fireside Chat podcast. She asked me questions about my book, The 100% Factor, and one of the topics of dialogue was the whole notion of there being no coincidences. She said she's kind of on the fence about that. I don't think it is a coincidence that she would pick that topic to talk about. And it's also no coincidence that Lisa's first interview for 2007 was Curt Rosengren, a North Dakota native and writer for Motto Magazine; and Lisa's second interview is Kevin Salwen, editor of Motto Magazine. Her third interview is me, a North Dakota native who has made an intention for 2007 to write for Motto Magazine. I know Lisa didn't know that when she set up these interviews, so what could it be except a miracle?

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

Day 3

Today's Lesson:

I do not understand anything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].

If I'm completely objective and non-judgmental, this must be true. Again, it goes back to The Four Agreements - and the second agreement, which is "Don't Take Anything Personally." If I believe everyone sees the world the same way I do, and get upset or take things personally when others project their own opinions upon me, I really am not being non-judgmental. I'm believing that I really do understand people and situations and even inanimate objects. It leads me into the third agreement, which is "Don't Make Assumptions," which naturally leads into more effective and frequent - and REAL communication.

Miracles I've noticed:

Situation #1: We met last night for our first new group Course in Miracles reading. Last year there were five of us in the reading group throughout the year and last night there were 16 people! I'm not sure all 16 will continue through the year, but that's three-fold increase in the number of people who are interested in our study! That's certainly a miracle. I also noticed that my genius ("Inviting Dialogue" - see this post for more information) was alive and well and I learned so much from the participants as we all asked questions and engaged in dialogue.

Situation #2: I went over to a friend's house after the study group and told her and her husband about my plans for 2007 for my business, Bock's Office. They were very interested and gave me great feedback about those plans. I learned for myself that I am quite committed to building this business using the distinctions I've learned from my Course study (especially the love-fear and the ego-Spirit distinctions) which means I may be doing things unconventionally. But as I can explain myself, the people I'm telling are engaged in the conversation and can see with me the future I will allow for myself and my business and it's very exciting!

Situation #3: I'm speaking today for the Rotary Club in Fargo and plan to give them some ideas for creating an abundant 2007 for themselves and their businesses, using some of what I've been learning here. The e-mail inviting me to speak came out of the blue about a week before Christmas, and I see it as a great opportunity to tell a rather substantial number of businesspeople about Bock's Office (and also to sell my book!).

Situation #4: I got an order yesterday for 9 books from Amazon.com. That may not seem like a lot, but Amazon is steadily ordering books, which means people are ordering the book from Amazon. I intend to make Amazon a bigger focus for selling books in 2007, and this was validation that that will work.

Situation #5: I got an e-mail from Kevin Salwen, editor of Motto Magazine today telling me how to proceed with submitting articles for the magazine. My, miracles work quickly!

What are you noticing in your own life? Where is your perception shifting from fear to love? Please share!

Miracles On Day 2!

Today's Lesson:

I have given everything I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place] all the meaning that it has for me.

This has been a very interesting lesson for me as I recognize how much meaning I attach to objects, concepts, and even people. By themselves, they really don't have any meaning apart from that which I've attached to them. If I can open my understanding to detach my own judgment, I will be able to see situations and people in a much different light - the light of love as opposed to fear.

Miracles I've noticed:

Situation #1. Last night I did some blogging, and visited a blog where Liz Strauss was writing about Extreme Leadership as written by Steve Farber, one of my favorite authors and one of the people who endorsed my book, The 100% Factor. I posted a comment on Liz's blog and about 5 minutes later I got an e-mail from her asking if she could call me. We ended up talking for about an hour about some ideas she has - because she's working with Steve Farber on his next book and she wanted to talk to me about my ideas. It turns out we have several mutual acquaintances, including Gerald Haman. She said when she was at the Thinkubator in Chicago a couple of months ago, Gerald actually showed Liz my book, because he might want to talk to her about helping him with a book. I know there are no coincidences - so consider all the signposts that were working miraculously in that connection! It occurs to me, as I consider yesterday's lesson (nothing I see means anything) that just observing this outside the ego which would want this all to mean something huge, it just becomes a "what you sow, you reap" kind of situation - outside of ego. It's just the way it is.

Situation #2: I noted on my other blog a couple of weeks ago that I wanted to write for Motto magazine sometime in 2007. I talked to my friend Phil last night and he said he had been e-mailing with Kevin Salwen, the editor of Motto, and mentioned my blog post to Kevin. Kevin said he would like me to let him know what I'd like to write about. And that happened within 1 day of it being 2007! Again, getting outside the ego, this is the way this is supposed to happen. It's not about me, but it's through me or around me that miracles are always happening. It's just that I need to notice!