Journal for Day 70
LESSON 66
My happiness and my function are one.
God gives me only happiness.
He has given my function to me.
Therefore my function must be happiness.
I fully accept this chain of logic. I have also witnessed the truth of it. As my commitment to my purpose has grown stronger, I am much happier than I ever have been in my life. I also find that I do not miss any of the other things I used to do in the hopes of finding happiness, so no sacrifice was asked of me. Nothing in the world is responsible for my happiness.
The ego wants me to think that my function here is to make decisions and win, basically. It thinks that things will make me happy and pushes its agenda. I remember when I was a sales person that I thought the best feeling in the world was getting a new customer and if I took my competitors customer that was a cherry on top.
What I quickly discovered is that what the ego gives, the ego takes away. The idea that I could take his customer left me open to the realization that he could do the same thing to me and so pleasure was quickly replaced by anxiety. My babies brought great joy and at the same time, great anxiety because what was given could be taken. This is typical ego.
What God offers is permanent happiness, happiness that does not vary or change in any way, and that does not come with a downside. What He gives is given completely and forever. If my happiness wavers it is because my dedication to my function wavered. This is a good way to stay on top of things. If I notice that I am not happy, I immediately look at my thoughts. What was I thinking that was not true?
Regina’s Tips on this lesson.
Every time you disengage from ego and bring your attention fully to the present, you are happy. You may make the mistake of thinking it was the fruit or candy (or hike or playing with your grandchildren, etc) that made you happy.
However, in actuality you are happy because you temporarily disengaged from ego, so there was nothing to block your natural state.
In the language of A Course in Miracles, the act of removing your attention from ego is called forgiveness. A Course in Miracles teaches that forgiveness is your function. Since disengaging from ego returns you to your natural state, our function (forgiveness) and happiness are one.
In order to see that this is true, pay attention to your experience. Notice that whenever you are not happy, there is a thought or story present that is driving your experience. Whenever you are happy, notice you are being present with your current experience and not caught up in ego ideas in that moment. By observing this in yourself, you will come to see that ego blocks happiness and happiness is natural when we are not lost in ego’s thoughts or perceptions.
My thoughts.
Regina, mentioned something I had not taken into consideration. She says that when I am disengaged from the ego, I am happy. This is because without the ego there is nothing to block my natural state, which is happiness. When I disengage from the ego this is forgiveness. I think her wording is helpful to my understanding.
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