That time I failed to take the red pill

“When we don’t stop daily to inventory all the gazillion things going right in our lives, the crazy voices in our heads try to make us their bitch.”—From my book, Thank & Grow Rich

Thank you, my beautiful friends, for your emails inquiring about my whereabouts. I reckon it’s a desired outcome when people notice you’re missing.

To be honest, I’ve been hijacked the last couple days. My father passed early Tuesday morning. It wasn’t completely unexpected (he has been ill for several years) and it isn’t like I don’t know life never really ends. Most times, I agree with my friend, Betty, who when she hears someone is about to pass,  gleefully remarks, “Oh, I’m so excited for them.”

It’s more that I used the drama (my father had three families and each seemed to have different ideas and plans about his passing) as an excuse to not take the red pill.

I didn’t start my morning with my Course workbook lesson or my AA 2.0 program and I didn’t ask for the help of the Holy S. In other words, I have neglected to smoke what I sell here on the blog, in my books.

I’m no longer beating myself up over it. My favorite words, as y’all know, are “It’s okay.”

This week, in fact, has been Exhibit A in just how powerful the Course really is.

It’s a portal, I guess you could say, into that bigger reality that’s possible to all of us. On this limited physical plane, life sometimes sucks. But as the Course teaches me (over and over), these thoughts and perceptions are NOT real. There is a much bigger Truth going on. I am a multi-dimensional being and this higher truth is forever available IF and WHEN I choose to hook up.

This week also pointed out the importance of daily maintenance. It’s like an exercise program. You don’t do it for a week, look in the mirror and say, “Hey, looking good. Guess you did it. Guess you can quit now.”

I pretty much have to open that workbook every morning. It’s not like it’s really asking too much. How hard is it to open a book and read the 5-minute lesson? If I was being asked to take a pill for some horrible illness, I’d ingest it with religious fervor.

ACIM Lesson 110 is that constant reminder: I am as the Dude created me.

I can pretend to be a dysfunctional, crazy woman with all sorts of agendas and vendettas or I can remain who the Dude created me to be: an eternal spirit bringing peace to all the world. The power in this one phrase (not to mention the power of just getting up each morning and committing my day to a higher truth) can undo the past, can redeem the world.

Like Neo in The Matrix, I always have a choice. The blue pill (where I remain unaware of my power) or the red pill where I discover reality without the preprogrammed script.

Glad to be back, my friends. May we all continue to celebrate the red pill’s joyful truth.

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.