20 Apr 2009
Pissed Off!!!??
City Life can get you down.
I Am Never Upset For The Reason I Think
is Lesson 5 of A Course In Miracles ( ACIM ) and the explanation starts with the statement that THIS IDEA can be used with any person, situation or event you think is causing you pain.
Apply it specifically to whatever you believe is the cause of your upset, using the description of the feeling in whatever term seems accurate to you. The upset may seem to be fear, worry, depression, anxiety, anger, hatred, jealousy or any number of forms, all of which will be perceived as different. This is not true. However, until you learn that form does not matter, each form becomes a proper subject for the exercises of the day. Applying the same idea to each of them separately is the first step in ultimately recognizing they are all the same.
When using the idea for today for a specific perceived cause of an upset in any form, use both the name of the form in which you see the upset, and the cause which you ascribe to it. For example :
" I am not angry at . . . for the reason I think "
" I am not afraid of . . . for the reason I think "
Run through this process 3 or 4 times during a 24 hour period and see what comes up. Our ego reality is a series of emotional hangovers like justified resentment and resentment kills the container it’s kept in. How acidic is that as a life process?
Here is my non-religious spiritual explanation/affirmation based on ACIM recovery teachings.
I Am Never Upset for the Reason I Think
I am never upset for the reason I think because I am constantly trying to justify my thoughts. ( the ego is insisting I am never wrong )
I am constantly trying to make them true. ( the ego insists I am always right )
I make all things my enemies, so that anger is justified and my attacks are warranted. ( the ego is addicted to struggle & battle in order to survive )
I have not realized how much I have misued everything I see by assigning this role to it. ( my ego does not want me to change direction )
I have done this to defend a thought system that has hurt me, and that I no longer want. ( the ego is weakening )
I am willing to let it go. ( I Will let light in and surrender the ego thought system to a higher energy process)
When you remove guilt and all attack thoughts from your vernacular you will experience freedom and innocent thinking. THIS is enlightenment.
One concept of ACIM is that there are only two emotions, FEAR & LOVE.
Fear is mastered by the ego and love is mastered by light in any form you choose. When I started with the Course 20 years ago I struggled with everything it contained including language but in 1992 when Marianne Williamson published A RETURN TO LOVE the simplicity of two emotions evoked understanding and awareness that I could only handle two emotions, even after 10 years recovery from active addiction.
Simplicity is bliss, less is more.
The 12 Step Programme of Alcoholics Anonymous has often been described as a simple programme for complicated people and in my interpretation of The Course, at first it is perceived as complicated when in retrospect is in fact quite simple. It always is when we take bite size chunks of manageability.
Todays task is to witness where you defend yourself over a perceived sense of attack. Victims take note. William Blake the great english poet, painter and spiritual visionary wrote :
" Don’t say you are trapped in a cage when someone has handed you the key "
” Don’t say you are trapped in a cage when someone has handed you the key ”
The ego doesn’t want the key.
Take it anyway, eventually you’ll need it.
droid
April 20th, 2009 at 10:48 pmpermalink
Does this apply to the financial crisis as well, or when I have my bike stolen, or when I am overcharged for gas and electricity and have to spend hours on the phone trying to talk to a human being to fix the mistake THEY have made?????
Swedish chef
April 21st, 2009 at 11:14 ampermalink
For the swedish chef the answer is Yes, ” I am never upset for the reason I think “. Outside influences are upsetting when we feel powerless or betrayed or let down by other peoples behavior. This lesson is not saying that we should not be upset. My interpretation is that as we are made up of millions of thoughts we are also made up of millions of memories, most of which remain forgotten and unhealed. So when the train is late or a credit crunch arrives via bankers and politicians, yes we are upset but ” I am not upset for the reason I think ” as the present moment triggers off past hurts, therefore piling more wood on the fire. It is the unhealed parts of our past that flame the fire of the present.
Thankfully I am not responsible for the mishaps of others but I am responsible for my response to them. The Princess Di effect illustrates this well. When mass grieving broke out people thought it was about her death when in fact in was more about the unexpressed losses of death from each individuals past that made such hysteria sweep the world. They were not upset for the reasons they thought. Most healing is silent.
A Course in Miracles wisely suggests this lesson as an IDEA so that we can see that when the past is cleared ( it holds no purpose ) and the future is ego led we only have the present moment to adhere to. I find that unravelling present upsets allows me to move forward quicker in peace. This lesson does not stop me from being upset at outside actions but does allow me to see that present upsets are not attached to the past ( that hold no purpose ). I like the slogan that AA uses sometimes FEEL IT. CLAIM IT. DUMP IT. This allows me to express freely then let go of it, ( when I remember ) LOL.
theswarmite
April 21st, 2009 at 9:00 pmpermalink
Timely, for me, this blog. A long overdue visit to an aging parent this weekend was occasion for revisiting my past. Many things clicked into place & healing took place.
Sad/funny that knowing all *this” (info in this blog) doesn’t mean you can always put it in effect & diffuse the emotions events will trigger. I am finding it takes less time to do so, as time goes by. Possibly partly from realizing just how precious time is, especially that spent with loved ones – even if you didn’t understand ‘love’ way back when.
Again I thank you for a meaningful, helpful blog.
Lafang
April 22nd, 2009 at 1:41 pmpermalink
Thanks Lafang for sharing these insights – I agree, understanding the theory and putting it into practice is miles apart but when ” we get it ” and begin to repeat it, the actions required come quicker. Maybe it’s an ” ageing ” thing. LOL.
theswarmite
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:05 pmpermalink
Agree with you both, definitely a case of practice makes perfect. As we become more skilled at anything we generally get quicker and more aware of what we are doing. Again, it’s ‘reading the recipe and then baking and eating the cake’ theory again, miles apart
droid
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:50 pmpermalink