Lesson 2 - Who's Minding Your Mind?

Lesson 2

Mind over what. . .

. . .doesn’t matter ?

 

Many years ago, as I was  giving a lecture to a spiritual group in the Midwest on the books entitled  A Course in Miracles.  I was asked a simple question, “Is this material teaching mind over matter?” I spontaneously answered with the response, “No, it is teaching mind over what doesn’t matter!”  Since then I have used this phrase many times, not just with my students and clients, but most especially with myself!

Boy, how seriously we take life.  After all isn’t being  an adult judged by how responsibly we handle problems? And problems are serious business, right? Wrong!  

          “Wait,”  you say. “What do you mean problems aren’t serious?  I have lots of problems.  My whole life is one insoluble problem - and I take this very seriously! I am responsible and I am an adult and this is no laughing matter!”

          Whew! Bummer!  What a drag!  With this frame of reference every time we enjoy life we must feel unconsciously that we are irresponsible and immature.  So naturally we are going to set ourselves up for more and more problems so that we can prove to ourselves and others how adult we are.  If you doubt that this is true, just reflect for a moment or two on what you like to think about most of the time.  And guess what you’ll discover?  You like to focus on your problems!  You worry pretty consistently just to make sure you don’t forget any of them.   Gee, you wouldn’t want to lose any, would you?

Does all this worry really make any difference?  Not really. Rarely do we ever come up with solutions when we are so busy remembering, reliving and reorganizing our problems.  So the obvious release from this imprisoning predicament is to shift from worry to serenity.

 

 

To move from worry to serenity effectively you will need to:

 

1.  Shift beliefs about fun and adulthood.

 

2.  Learn to focus on solutions rather than problems.

 

3. Discover what really matters and release what doesn’t.

 

Being able to accomplish all three effectively takes time and tools, but hey,  what else is time for? 

 

 

 

 

Thoughts to contemplate

and discuss

 

1.     How seriously do you take life? Observe yourself over the next several days and notice how often you enjoy each moment and how often you are ‘focused’ intently on the issues in front of you with a slight frown. (That will give you a beginning clue on discovering your ‘seriousness’ level.

2.     Do you find yourself repeating the problems challenging you to yourself and to others? (Here is a clue to whether you are focused on problems or answers)

3.     Observe how easy it is for you to stop judging the issues and be willing to be ‘wrong’ in your assessment? (Hmmm, this is much easier said than done!)