writings | community | gallery

You're invited to visit our sister site, QuietMind.info, a resource site featuring articles
on spirituality and psychology, A Course in Miracles, and selections from
Dan Joseph's free Quiet Mind newsletter.

Home | Writings | General | Dan Joseph | Inspired by Miracles part 3 | next   

Excerpted from Inspired by Miracles by Dan Joseph. Copyright © 2001 by Quiet Mind Publishing, LLC. Excerpted by permission of Quiet Mind Publishing, LLC.  All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. HTML and web pages copyright © by SpiritSite.com.
 

"We may have some resistance to this. Part of our mind wants to say, 'I’m not choosing to see things this way; they just are this way.'"

  Dan Joseph, Inspired by Miracles, Part 3

Step 1. The first step in this process is to choose a person in your life who troubles you. It could be someone who seems quite irritating, or someone who seems just mildly annoying.

 

(ex. Debby, my co-worker.)

Step 2. Next, describe why this person troubles you, using as much detail as possible. You’re encouraged not to "censor" your current perspective. This step calls for a great deal of honesty.

 

 

(ex. Debby constantly gossips, she always asks me to do things for her, and she acts very petty. I just don’t like being around her. No one really likes being around her.)

Step 3. Even though these things may seem to be "facts" (and on the worldly level, some of them may be), let’s reframe them in terms of our thoughts. Let’s restate step two in the form of, "I’m choosing to see _____ (person) as _____ (quality)."

We may have some resistance to this. Part of our mind wants to say, "I’m not choosing to see things this way; they just are this way." Although things may indeed be this way on a behavioral level, the Course wants us to take responsibility for our thoughts about them.

Again, our job in this step is to rewrite each sentence from step two in the form, "I’m choosing to see _____ as _____." This is a powerful step because it involves taking full responsibility for our thoughts. By doing this, we’re identifying the contents of the cubbyhole.

 

 

 

(ex. I’m choosing to see Debby as someone who constantly gossips, who always asks me to do things for her, and who acts very petty. I’m choosing to see Debby as someone I don’t like being around. I’m choosing to see Debby as someone whom no one likes being around.)

next ->