Day 17: Resistance and Rules for Decision

Today, think about the kind of day that you want.
Forget about the past.
Forget about the future.

Just think about the kind of day that you want and then tell yourself there is a way in which this very day can happen just like that.

Day 17 Audio – Rules for Decision

Thinking about the kind of day you want AT THE BEGINNING OF THE DAY is in itself A MIRACLE because most people just let the day happen – they think their day is at random where any number of things can “happen” that are both good and bad – and they never pause to think in advance “what kind of day do I want?”

The kind of day that I WANT is one where great things happen – a day of beauty and happiness and relaxation – a day where things happen easily and effortlessly. A day where I am doing work I love, interacting with people in a happy fun way, taking time for myself and also feeling excitement to be creating a life that I love. I want a day where I feel truly alive.

Remember, you’re not alone. Your Advisor is with you. He’s talking to you. Are you talking to Him? Are you listening? Are you taking time to communicate with your Great Companion?

“You and your advisor must agree on what you want before it can occur. It is this agreement that permits all things to happen.” – A Course in Miracles, Chapter 30, Rules for Decision

Chapter 30 is OFF-THE-CHART-AMAZING. It gives you step-by-step instructions about how to have the day you want. I think the section “Rules for Decision” is worth the entire cost of the book. It tells you EXACTLY what to do – in really easy 1-2-3 steps.

Here it is: click here to read: Rules for Decision

REMEMBER, YOU ARE A CO-CREATOR WITH GOD. This week is about learning to have a real relationship with God, beginning to communicate with Him, to know him, to talk with him, to listen, to come to agreement about what you want, and then to work together to make it happen.

“YOUR DAY IS NOT AT RANDOM.” -A Course in Miracles

This week is about reaching God, finding God, trusting God, having a relationship with God, having a romance with God, and getting to know God, which is the same thing as saying … getting to know yourself, having a romance with yourself, falling in love with yourself, and trusting yourself.

In the beginning, THIS WILL PROBABLY CAUSE A LOT OF RESISTANCE. This section – Chapter 30, Rules for Decision – even says you’re probably gonna get angry. It tells you what is going to happen. It’s brilliant. And then it tells you what to do when you DO get angry.

I know for myself when I first started on this path, I fought it tooth and nail. I was all the resistance in the universe. I did not trust myself. I did not love myself. Mostly, I didn’t even like myself.

Resistance, resistance, resistance.

It was like a battle going on in my head between ideas of perfection and unworthiness. I’d think “I’m whole and perfect” and the next second I would be thinking: “no, you’re not, look at you.”

And then I’d list all the reason why I “wasn’t quite there yet.”

There are times when if feels totally impossible to find God – to feel His Presence – even while you are thinking about ideas of A Course in Miracles. There are times when no matter how hard you try, you just cannot find that experience of God, joy, and happiness.

IT IS THE TRYING THAT IS THE PROBLEM.

“My” idea was to change myself or attempt to improve myself in some way. I always thought life would start “later.” I felt like the battle in my head would end sometime “later.” It was never now, which made me feel entirely weak, powerless and hopeless. My happiness was always in the future when external situations changed or improved.

THIS IS THE WHOLE HUMAN CONDITION:
Life will be better when …
I’ll be happy if …

Obviously, this kind of conditional thinking will only make you feel bad.

So today, forget about all that. TODAY IS ALL THERE.

Today, let the past go.
Today, let the future go.

Think about the kind of day you want and then tell yourself there is a way in which this very day can happen just like that.

A Course in Miracles is very simple and really practical and today I want you to see it in action … today!

So today, REAL SIMPLE.

Rules For Decision

Decisions are continuous. You do not always know when you are making them. But, with a little practice in the ones you recognize, a set begins to form which sees you through the rest. It is not wise to let yourself become preoccupied with every step you take. The proper set, adopted consciously each time you wake, will put you well ahead. And if you find resistance strong and dedication weak, you are not ready. DO NOT FIGHT YOURSELF. But think about the kind of day you want, and tell yourself there is a way by which this very day can happen just like that. Then try again to HAVE the day you want.

1. The outlook starts with this:

“Today I will make NO decisions by myself.”

This means that you are choosing NOT to be the judge of what to do. But it must ALSO mean you will not judge the situations where you will be called upon to make response. For if you judge them, you HAVE set the rules for how you should react to them. And then ANOTHER answer cannot BUT produce confusion and uncertainty AND FEAR. This is your major problem now. You still make up your minds, and THEN decide to ask what you should do. And what you hear may not resolve the problem AS YOU SAW IT FIRST. This leads to fear, because it contradicts what you perceive, and so you feel attacked. AND THEREFORE ANGRY. There are rules by which this will not happen. But it does occur, at first, to everyone who listens well.

2. Throughout the day, at any time you think of it, and have a quiet moment for reflection, tell yourself again the kind of day you want; the feelings you would have, the things you WANT to happen, and the things you WOULD experience. And say,

“If I make no decisions by myself, this is the day that will be GIVEN me.”

These two procedures, practiced well, will serve to let you be directed WITHOUT fear, for opposition will not FIRST arise, and THEN become a problem in itself. But there will still be times when you have judged already. Now the answer will provoke attack, unless you quickly straighten out your mind to WANT an answer that will work. Be certain this has happened, if you feel yourself to be unwilling to sit by, and ask to have the answer GIVEN you. This means you HAVE decided by yourself, AND CANNOT SEE THE QUESTION. Now you need a quick restorative BEFORE you ask.

3. Remember once again the day you want, and recognize that something has occurred which is not part of it. Then realize that you have asked a question by yourself, and MUST have set an answer in your terms. Then say,

“I have no question. I forgot what to decide.”

This cancels out the terms which you have set, and lets the ANSWER show you what the question MUST have really been. Try to observe this rule without delay DESPITE your opposition. For you have ALREADY gotten angry, and your fear of being answered in a different way from what YOUR version of the question asks will gain momentum until you believe the day you want is one in which you get YOUR answer to your question. And you will not get it, for it would destroy the day by robbing you of what you REALLY want. This can be very hard to realize, when once you have decided by yourself the rules which PROMISE you a happy day. But these decisions still can be undone, by simple methods which you CAN accept.

4. If you are so unwilling to receive you cannot even let your QUESTION go, you can begin to change your mind with this:

“At least I can decide I do not LIKE what I feel now.”

This much is obvious, and paves the way for the next easy step, which follows like this.

5. Having decided that you do not like the way you feel, what could be easier than to continue with –

“And so I HOPE I have been wrong.”

This works AGAINST the sense of opposition, and reminds you that help is not being thrust upon you, but is something that you want and that you need BECAUSE you do not like the way you feel. This tiny opening will be enough to let you go ahead with just a few more steps you need to LET yourself be helped.

6. Now you have reached the turning point, because it has occurred to you that YOU will gain, if what you have decided is NOT so. Until this point is reached, you will believe your happiness DEPENDS on being right. But this much reason have you now attained; YOU would be better off if you were WRONG. This tiny grain of wisdom will suffice to take you further. You are NOT coerced, but merely hope to have a thing you WANT. And you can say in perfect honesty,

“I WANT another way to look at this.”

Now you have changed your mind about the day, and have REMEMBERED what you really want. Its purpose has no longer been obscured by the insane belief you want it for the goal of being right when you are wrong. This is the readiness for asking brought to your awareness, for you cannot be in conflict when you ask for what you want, and see that it is this for which you ask.

7. This final step is but acknowledgment of lack of opposition to be helped. It is a statement of an open mind, not certain yet, but willing to be shown:

“Perhaps there IS another way to look at this. What can I LOSE by asking?”

Thus are you made ready for a question that makes sense, and so the answer will make sense as well. Nor will you fight against it, for you see that it is YOU who will be helped by it.

It must be clear that it is easier to have a happy day if you prevent unhappiness from entering at all. But this takes practice in the rules which will protect you from the ravages of fear. When this has been achieved, the sorry dream of judgment has forever been undone. But, meanwhile, you have need for practicing the rules for its undoing. Let us, then, consider once again the very first of the decisions which are offered here.

We said you can begin a happy day with the determination not to make decisions by yourself. This seems to be a free decision in itself. And yet, you CANNOT make decisions by yourself. The only question really is with WHAT you choose to make them. That is really all.

The first rule, then, is not coercion, but a simple statement of a simple fact. You will not make decisions by yourself WHATEVER you decide. For they are made with idols or with God. And you ask help of Christ or anti-Christ, and which you choose will join with you, and tell you what to do.

Your day is not at random. It is set by what you choose to live it with, and how the friend whose counsel you have sought perceives your happiness. You always ask advice before you can decide anything. Let THIS be understood, and you can see there cannot be coercion here, nor grounds for opposition that you may be free. There IS no freedom from what must occur. And if you think there is, you must be wrong.

The second rule as well is but a fact. For you and your Advisor must agree on what you want before it can occur. It is but this AGREEMENT which permits all things to happen. Nothing can be caused without some form of union, be it with a dream of judgment or the Voice of God. Decisions cause results BECAUSE they are not made in isolation. They are made by you and your Advisor, for yourself, and for the world as well. The day you want you offer to the world, for it wilL be what you have asked for, and will reinforce the rule of your Advisor through the world. Whose kingdom is the world for you today? What kind of day will you decide to have?