Lesson 2: Giving meaning to things

PHEW! Today’s lesson is an interesting one! It implies that “We humans decide in advance how we’re going to experience life, that we choose beforehand what we want to see. Problem is, we all look at the world with a giant chip on our shoulder”! (Thanks Pam Grout for that sentence, which was all I needed to understand what this lesson was about!).

The Course In Miracles book itself says, “I have given everything I see in this room [in this street, from this window, in this place] all the meaning that is has for me”.

I’m not sure if this makes sense to you (it didn’t for me at first!), so let me attempt to put this into context for you…

An example of how we do this

Let’s assume you hate your job. Your boss is awful, the work is boring, and you’re not particularly fond of your coworkers either.

It’s Monday morning and your alarm has just gone off, and you lie in bed, thinking feelings of dread about the awful day ahead.

What you have just done is “choose” the type of day you’re about to have.

Why does this matter?

Now that you’ve “chosen” the type of day you’re about to have, you’ve automatically shifted your energetic vibration to one that matches having a crappy day.

What happens from there is that events which match this energetic vibration will begin to occur. Maybe you’ll get caught in a traffic jam, or you’ll step in a puddle, or your boss will be extra nasty that day!

Whatever it is, your life will always energetically match the vibration you’ve chosen.

What do I do if my energy is “off”?

If you’re aware that your energy is off, then that’s a wonderful start, because you’re already in tune with your vibrational energy. If however, you’re not aware if your energy is off, you only need to look at your experiences. What type of day are you having today? It matches perfectly with your vibration!

The latter is what Pam Grout refers to when she says we look at the world with a huge chip on our shoulder!

So now it’s time to remove that chip!

There are a number of ways to look at the world differently, but here are a few steps you can follow:

1. Make a decision to look at the world differently. Until you decide that’s what you want to do, it’ll be almost impossible to do so!
2. Stick a little note by your alarm clock, to remind you that “positive thoughts only” are allowed, so you don’t automatically fall into that habit of dreading the day ahead.
3. Focus on gratitude – in your mind, express your gratitude toward every little “thing” that crosses your mind today. If a car lets you in front, express gratitude. If a stranger smiles at you, express gratitude. If it’s sunny today, express gratitude. If it’s raining today, express gratitude.

Ok I think you get the idea!

There are soooo many other ways to do this, and the three little steps above are just one of those ways. Give it a try or modify it a little so it suits you better, and do that!

It may take a little while for the momentum of your old vibration to play out, but as your new vibration begins to shine through, your experiences will begin to change to match it. Just wait and see!