“We can be scared, we can be angry, we can be hopeful, we can be sad. We can be all these things and have company in it. –David Wilcox
I’m home from my magical trip to Canada and decided to read a few of the comments. One, that I felt compelled to answer immediately, seemed relevant for all of us.
Penelope (I’ve changed the name) asked a question about my post on being very precious. She said she didn’t feel worthy of that label and couldn’t seem to get over her anger. Here’s my answer:
Dear sweet, oh-so-worthy Penelope–I just opened my computer to write today’s lesson and thought I’d read a few of the comments. I just read yours and feel impelled to reply…right this very moment. First of all, it is perfectly okay to be angry. In fact, I call “it’s okay” the magic words that can change your life forever. Whatever it is you feel, whatever it is you think, it’s okay.
Second of all, I, too, am very flawed. VERY!!! And I am learning, slowly, slowly, to observe the voice that wants to tell me ‘it’s not okay. I’m not okay.” I think what happens when we ask to see things differently, as the Course suggests, we turn the light on those thoughts that cause us so much pain and, like cockroaches, they begin to scatter.
Nothing–anger, death, guilt, frustration–makes us less precious. We are precious because we are precious. Our thoughts (what the Course calls the ego) will try to tell us we’re not precious, that it’s not okay to feel certain things.
But it’s all okay, my precious, beautiful friend. If for today, you can simply separate yourself from your thoughts (just a little) and just observe them. The trick is not to take them as your identity.
As we learn to be gentle with ourselves (sometimes the hardest thing to do), we find that there’s no need to “find brighter Penelope” or “cut the anger from our psyche.” The Truth about ourselves is underneath it all. It can’t be changed by our anger. Our judgments. Those things are all just normal antics of the mind.
But for today, just breathe and know that whatever train of thoughts is plowing through your head is all okay.
Love, love, only love,
Pam
Lesson ACIM 42 (God is my Strength. Vision is his Gift.) says this:
Your passage through time and space is not at random.
You cannot fail in your efforts to achieve the goal of the course.
It’s a gift and you don’t have to do anything.
You can receive it any time anywhere, wherever you are, in whatever circumstances you find yourself.
Pam Grout is the author of 19 books including E-Squared, E-Cubed, Thank & Grow Rich and her new book, Art & Soul,Reloaded: A Year-Long Apprenticeship to Summon the Muses and Ignite Your Daring, Audacious, Creative Side.
41 Responses
We are ALL Penelope. Thank you. <3
Indeed. Thanks!!
I just had to write to you. I was drawn to your book “Thank and Grow Rich, and I haven’t looked back. My daughter, on the other side of the world, and I connect twice a day as gratitude buddies. I moved on to E Cubed and I now boogy to the bathroom Mum-dancing to The Bare Necessities, I Love to Boogy and many more every morning, I am printing off my Smile cards and I have ordered 5 euro notes to distribute. The only thing I can do is say THANK YOU. You are changing the world one thank you at a time, you are certainly changing mine and others through me. Bless you!
What a beautiful message to read! Thank you, Linda!!!
Thank you for your wonderful posts. I read them everyday. I also enjoy your reviews of ACIM, as my book is still functioning as a shelf divider. The most important thing I read in your posts is how much you love your flawed self and how you champion your right to make mistakes. It reminds me of that famous line in Leonard Cohen’s song, ANTHEM, “There is a crack, a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.” I soooo love that about you. When I read how you witness your chatty asshat (which I adore) and take the higher road of knowing everything is just perfect the way it is, reminds me to tell myself the same thing. We are right on time. We are miracles in our own right. There is no rush in my personal development, I am opening up just as surely as a vase of Peonies.
What a beautiful image–opening as surely as a vase of peonies!! Thank you!
Pam,
Each time I read what you share my heart swells up and my eyes begin to water. it’s like being wrapped in that warm blanket just before major surgery. I melt into bliss. I picked your book up at Heathrow several years ago because I am a numbers guy and I could not resist E Squared. It has been a year and a half since my tongue surgery. I knew it was a gift the day I was told there was a squamous cell carcinoma on my tongue. I have you to thank for that. Even the leech therapy was fun. The reconstruction of my mouth continues as we do impressions to locate some dental implants. From you I learned that we must decide ahead of time that everything we do will be fun. Some day when my mouth is done we will talk.
I look forward to that day, my friend!!
I adore you Pam and if I see it in you then it must be in me, right? Thank you so much! This post hits home for me too!
Yes, the peace and stillness is in all of us. So grateful!
Where were you in Canada?? Sorry to have missed you Pam!
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I was in Quebec. On a traveling writing assignment! I love your country!!
Thank you, Pam, for this. I followed the link to “It’s okay”, and I found one of the paragraphs there so inspiring that I copied it out in three different places, one of them being a Post-It note so I could stick it to my computer monitor, where I can see it every day.
I had a pretty profound experience last night as I was meditating, and I thought I’d share it with you.
I had found a center of peace and stillness, and I relaxed into that feeling, knowing I had succeeded in finding it. (I don’t always get there every time I meditate.)
That’s when it struck me: a gentle voice deep in my soul said, “You know, this feeling of peace and tranquility is always here inside you. Just like your heart is always in your chest, your bones are always there to hold you up, your brain is always cradled in the protective bony case of your skull — this feeling of stillness is also always here, just waiting for you to be aware of it. So be aware, even when you’re not this deep in an alpha state.”
I basked in that realization, letting it settle deeply into my mind, so I could call on it whenever I need it in the future (as I’m sure I will). Today, I feel calm and at peace, knowing that that feeling is always inside, as sure as my heart beats.
(tl;dr) Stillness and peacefulness are always inside us. No matter what’s roiling around on the surface, it’s always there, just like our bones are inside our flesh. We’re not conscious of our bones, but there they are, holding everything together. And so is tranquility.
Lovely and so true!
That is SO beautiful and profound! Thank you SO MUCH for sharing!!
Thank you for one of my newest favorite quotes. I’m taking it to work with me! Thank you for helping me to connect to my own tranquility!
We are so much alike, all of us, in so many ways. Thank you for sharing this today. Many blessings, KK
Yes, we all are alike! Many blessings right back!
Pam, Thank you so very much. All your great words of wisdom is really helping me get through this phase of my life with a positive attitude. The exact words I need to hear are coming to me at the exact right time. Thank you
I love that about the universe! It all happens at the exact right time!
I needed this so badly. I stopped in the middle of the exercise this morning because I couldn’t get past my hurt and resentment over some issues at work. Then I went on to criticize myself for not shaking it off…and the beat goes on. This was reassuring to say the least. THANK YOU, PAM
Yes, the beat goes on! And we’ll shake it off when we’re ready. And it’s all okay!
Great work, Pam. I always enjoy.
Thanks for the encouragement!
This is sooooo beautiful!!!
Ah, thanks!
<3 <3 <3
Thanks for the hearts! An early Valentine!
I loved the quote “I am incredibly precious,” and have used it in a workshop I am giving. It is all about how our ego is formed and works and how we can bit by bit peel away our wounds, pain, and dysfunctional beliefs until we find peace and joy in just “being” that which we truly are. This hasn’t been an easy or quick process for me and I am still on the road to self love, but I know it becomes easier the more I work on it and I know that as I and others do the work, we help each other and the world and it will become easier for all of us over time. Thank you for being such a beautiful, inspiring, and funny lightworker. Thank you for reminding us that we are all “incredibly precious.”
It is my great pleasure. Thank you, Jane!
Thanks, Pam! I needed that. You rock!
Thanks!
Thankyou so much for the light, healing and love in your words Pam. I feel so blessed to be part of these daily ACIM posts and to witness everyone’s responses. I find it really difficult to think – to KNOW – that “it’s all okay”, no matter what “it” is. For me, “it” is currently being addicted to sugar and a comfort eater and significantly overweight. I feel so guilty about it. I feel embarrassed that I struggle with this even though I belong to a Unity church and am learning powerful, wonderful truths, and therefore I “should” know better. I heap judgement on myself but still can’t seem to stop. I guess we all have one kind of “it” or another whether it’s anger, self hatred, guilt, poor habits, judging others or ourselves, etc etc. and if we can learn to love “it” and bless “it” with “it’s okay” then maybe it IS ok and we can let it be and learn to let “it” go, too. Hmm, I’ll have to keep thinking about this. (Sharing here is kind of like journaling for me. Hopefully my sharing will also be helpful to others who visit here) Anyway, thanks for “listening”!! Abundant blessings dear Pam. 😊🦋
Thanks so much for sharing! You’re very right. Once we let go of resistance, our “not okayness,” our thoughts will let go of us.
I got this at the perfect time today. Was feeling off and couldn’t figure out what was going on as I clean and purge my home. Then it hit like a ton of bricks that it was more grief. So I stopped my day and wrote about it to purge it. Stopped in the middle of that to read this. So on target. Now back to the journal with renewed insight. Thank you. It’s all okay. 🙂
Indeed it is, my friend!
OMG! That brought tears to the surface. I have been a dedicated student of the course for years & it has been so delightful to read your posts every day in 2018. Your words add such a sparkly shimmer. Love love always & forever from Canada 🇨🇦.
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Thank you so much Alanna!
😊 I Love your lyrics. ❤️❣️💞
Thanks for the awesome unicorn yoga pose. I will think of it next time I do cat/cow in yoga class. I love how you can find the fun in things ❤
Perfect Pam, perfect Penelope, and perfect US. xo