“An unreturned phone call, a bit of traffic, a harsh word spoken, an unremembered errand–all can be resentments you hold to yourself and refuse to let go. By the time you begin your day you may hold several of these in your mind, and there you build them into reasons for even further withholding. Now you have an excuse–or several excuses–for a bad day. Why should you give anything to anyone when your day has already treated you so badly? You withhold even a smile, because you have chosen grievances over love. (A Course of Love, 7.11)”
Affirmation: “May I have a good day today.”
Reflections:
1 – Personal Experience
We know when our day has gotten off to a bad start. Last night I had had stress in the day, and then I got home and found more stress, for stress had impacted my home life as well, in my absence. I needed just to get quiet. But I allowed my ego to take over my life momentarily, and I did not act well, the way that I know is best.
2 – Stress
This morning I awoke with a fresh start. At first I did not even remember what had happened last night that was bad. But, regrettably, I searched my memory until I did remember the stress of the previous evening. Bad mistake! This was enough to start the day off badly. A day that I was about to rue.
3 – Begin the Day Again
But now I have settled down to write about A Course of Love, and, lest I feel like a hypocrite, I must put aside the stress and, yes, the grievances, that arose last night, and, to a lesser extent, this morning. I must begin the day again, as Jesus encourages us to do in A Course in Miracles. I do not like the way that I am feeling, and so I will start afresh. And then, as promised, all will be well.
4 – Guilt
Why would any of us cling to a bad day, except out of guilt, a form of madness? There is no other reason. Thinking of reasons to be unhappy does not turn around unhappiness, nor does it ensure that we will make amends for our poor thoughts and behavior.
5 – Start Over
The only way to get around a bad day is to start over, a feat that can happen at any time. And Jesus has recommended this practice in ACIM. Surely the same technique will work, now that we are considering A Course of Love.
6 – A Good Day without Guilt
Be quiet. Be tranquil. Pray. Even meditate, if this helps. The only thing standing between us and a good day is our sense of guilt. And we are not perfect, nor, we find later on in A Course of Love, is perfection required of us. We are human and divine; let us look to the divine within to solve our dilemmas. And then just let the grievances drop away. Forgiveness of ourselves and others was our function in A Course in Miracles. Let us return to those statements, and live a better day from now on out.
Prayer:
Dear Father/Mother,
If I begin each morning with the affirmation, spoken to You, “I turn myself over to You,” then I am well prepared for anything that might happen, anything that might seem to give me a bad day. Even the so-called “bad” things do not faze me as they would if I had not said to You, “I belong to You.”
We have plenty of helpers on the Other Side, and plenty of helpers in this world, as well. Try to keep a good mood going, and the day will seem much, much better. How to keep a good mood going? I need to lighten up before You. And then I know that You will handle everything else.
Amen.