It’s all a gift

“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.