When I began my career as an engineer designing computers, I fell in love with business. And not just business in general, but building and running companies. In particular, I wanted to lead a company. My dream was to be a CEO. That goal in itself wasn’t necessarily good or bad; however my strong desire to be the CEO was definitely not helpful. I saw every encounter through the lens of “will this propel me or hold me back from my dream?”. I’m reminded of these powerful, introspective lines from ...
Oct 20, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 138
How often have you thought about what would make you happy? We all have our lists. If such-and-such happens, then I’ll be happy. And it doesn’t matter what such-and-such is. For some of us, it’s a number in the bank account. For others, it’s related to the health of our body or someone else’s body. For someone else it might be a job title or societal position. And for another person, it might be the removal of some negative element in their life. It doesn’t matter who you are or how much you cur...
Oct 12, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 137
Have you ever found yourself getting frustrated by another person? Maybe they did or said something that you didn’t think was appropriate. Perhaps they were being inconsiderate, thinking of no one but themselves. We might even try to rationalize their behavior. “They’re probably having a bad day. Maybe things are really difficult in their life.” Yet it still feels painful to us. We bear the brunt of their actions. But we don’t need to do that. I really like this line from A Course in Miracles : ...
Oct 01, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 136
Think about how much we live in the service of our body. It clamors to us all day long. I’m hungry, feed me. I’m bored, let’s do something. I’m angry, let’s stew on this topic awhile. I’m sad, let’s dwell on why. And when we’re fearful or in pain, that’s when we really get locked in on the body. Pain and fear are so compelling. But we made them that way. With the purpose of rooting our attention in the body and convincing us that our bodies are a core part of our identify. When our body suffers,...
Sep 18, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 135
A Course in Miracles uses the beautiful metaphor of messengers of love . These messengers are essentially envoys that we send out in search of love. And they return to us what they found. There are also corollary agents known as messengers of fear . They, too, are sent out in search of what they value - in this case, fear - and they also return to us their “treasures”. So, we have these two sets of messengers that we send forth into the world to bring us their findings. But here’s the catch. We ...
Aug 26, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 134
It can be very hard to accept that everything we experience is the result of our thoughts. Yet no matter what happens around us or to us, we give it the meaning it has for us. We choose how to see it and how to respond to it. And that choice determines how we feel. I remember how often I would get upset over something - only to eventually realize that I had completely misinterpreted the situation. But in those moments I realized that my emotions weren’t caused by what someone said or did, rather...
Aug 10, 2019•3 min•Season 1Ep. 133
The feeling of anxiousness - especially chronic anxiety - is awful. There is little experience of peace or calm. The world, and our body, is off kilter. There is no sense of relaxed breathing and everything feels like it’s on the edge of some precarious precipice. And in such a state, it is very difficult to think deeply or find much cause for optimism. In fact, it’s a very dark place. But there is a way out. The goal of studying and practicing A Course in Miracles is to experience peace. Each o...
Aug 02, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 132
A theme that is discussed very often in A Course in Miracles is that of the body - ours and everyone else’s. We learn that the body is nothing - it is a neutral thing onto which we project all the meaning it has for us. But when we look about the world, and especially when we contemplate our emotional state, we think in terms of the body. How does my body feel? How are the bodies of people I care about? When we are unhappy, it is often because certain bodily needs are not being met - either phys...
Jul 24, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 131
If you’re in a job you don’t enjoy - whether that’s because the work isn’t stimulating, you don’t feel fairly treated, or you don’t like your co-workers or boss - it feels pretty crappy. Essentially there are three things you can do. The first is to do nothing, in which case you’ll keep experiencing the same stuff over and over. The second thing you could do is to change your job. Either within the same company, or to a different one. And the third is to change the way you think about your situa...
Jul 19, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 130
Have you ever wondered what you should be doing? I don’t mean specifically what projects you should be working on for your job or your family. But more generally, what you should be doing with life. I remember thinking a lot as a kid, “What am I here for? What is my purpose in life?” Then I got consumed with school, career, relationships, and all those sorts of things. But behind it all, I felt this tug of “what should I be doing?” I remember the first time I read the line in A Course in Miracle...
Jul 16, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 129
Are you where you’d like to be right now? Do you have a sense that what you are doing and how you are living aligns with your path? So much has been written on goal setting, vision boarding, and manifesting a life you desire. But all that presupposes you are not where you should be. The truth is that when we’re aligned with our ego, we will always believe there is more. We buy into the scarcity principle that says there is something missing in us. It might be improved health, increased wealth, s...
Jul 15, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 128
It’s tempting to believe that everything around us is real, substantial, and capable of impacting us. And as long as we believe we are these bodies, that is true. But think about dreams at night. During the dream, it seems as if the contents are real. And the main character in the dream - what we consider to be “I” - is affected by the goings-on of the various dream figures and situation. However, when we awaken, we realize that nothing happened. We made it all up. No matter how serious the situ...
Jul 09, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 127
In every moment we can only experience one of two possible states: fear or love. Fear has many derivatives including guilt, sadness, shame, worry, loneliness, anger, boredom, and every other negative emotion you can identify. Love is simply an unconditional joy that embraces everyone and everything. Love is our true reality. Fear is what we experience when we deny reality. Consider this line from A Course in Miracles : “Whenever judgment enters reality has slipped away.” So when we’re not at pea...
Jul 02, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 126
Can you imagine what it would be like to experience peace all the time? Totally independent of anything that’s going on around you. It’s so tempting to believe that our sense of well-being comes from situations and experiences in the world and our body. We have metrics we’ve decided are the threshold of peace: things like money, bodily health, relationships, and so forth. We believe achievement of those metrics leads to happiness. But what if we have it all wrong? A Course in Miracles (and many ...
Jul 01, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 125
It’s tempting to believe that the key to happiness lies in having our needs met. Whether that’s financial, health, relationship, reputation, or whatever - getting those needs fully met will lead to the joy we desperately desire. But that belief - and the seeking for such fulfillment in the expectation that happiness will follow - leads us no where. It actually leads us into exactly what we don’t want. Which is more and more seeking but not finding what we truly want. There’s an old adage that sa...
Jun 25, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 124
At times we can feel terrifyingly alone. Even if we’re surrounded by others. Deep down is the knowledge that this is not our home. And our journey here seems long and winding. But this quote from A Course in Miracles helps us on our path: "If you knew Who walks beside you on the way that you have chosen, fear would be impossible." Our practice for today is to remember that in every step we take we can turn to our guide, the loving presence in our right mind, who gently leads us home. Wishing you...
Jun 24, 2019•50 sec•Season 1Ep. 123
When I was very young, I would list out the things I believed would make me happy. The first one I remember was a computer. My family didn’t have enough money for a computer, but I persisted in wishing for one year after year. Then it was a bicycle. As I got into middle school, it was popularity. And on and on it went. If only I had such-and-such, then I would be happy. It took me a long time to realize that no matter what came into my life - no matter how adored by worldly standards - it didn’t...
Jun 21, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 122
The only reason we can get upset with another person is because they remind us of something distasteful in ourselves. While we might not actually do the things they are doing, their actions (and more importantly, the meaning we give their actions) stir something that resonates in us. Something we aren’t particularly fond of looking at within ourselves. One of the early lessons in A Course in Miracles reads “I am never upset for the reason I think.” We think we are upset because of this other per...
Jun 19, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 121
I recently visited the eye doctor’s because my close up vision - like for reading - was not what it used to be. The words on the page or the screen weren’t as crisp as I was used to. And if you’ve ever sat in one of the testing chairs, the doctor puts a bunch of different lenses in front of you comparing image after image as they fine-tune the prescription. And what amazed me was how crystal clear everything looked with the right lens - compared to how things looked with my regular eyesight. But...
Jun 17, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 120
There’s a powerful sentence in Chapter 17 in A Course in Miracles that reads “Do not interfere.” And what that line means is this: when we think we need to DO something in the world - either with our body, someone else’s body, or in some situation - then we are essentially exclaiming to the universe that: (a) something needs to be done (b) I know what it is (c) and I will do something to make it happen But we can only be listening to the voice of the ego when we think we know what is best. Anoth...
Jun 14, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 119
There are two ways we can experience every situation that we find ourselves in. And those two ways are based on which teacher we’ve chosen in the mind. Either the mind of the ego, or the mind of the Holy Spirit. Let me start by reading this line from A Course in Miracles : “Every situation in which you find yourself is but a means to meet the purpose set for your relationship.” In other words, if we choose the ego mind then the purpose of our experience is one of perpetuating some form of lack, ...
Jun 13, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 118
Imagine a day with no judgment. Just an in-the-moment acceptance of everything that occurs. No matter what other people say or do to us. Let them be as hateful and vicious as they’d may. They can’t affect our calm presence unless we choose to throw peace away. No matter what is going on with our body or other bodies we care about, we can gently accept the “is-ness” of each moment recognizing we aren’t these bodies. When we let go of judgment, we return to our right mind of love where peace infus...
Jun 12, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 117
It is very hard not to equate ourselves with our body. Our entire sense of well-being is based on how the body is doing. If my body is sick, then “I” am sick. If my body is attacked, then “I” am attacked. If my body is calm, then “I” am calm. If bodies I care about are doing well, then “I” feel good. But we have our focus of attention in the wrong place. Consider this line from A Course in Miracles : “The body is the instrument the mind made in its efforts to deceive itself.” In other words, the...
Jun 11, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 116
There’s a very insightful, thought-provoking line in A Course in Miracles that reads, “There is no fantasy that does not contain the dream of retribution for the past.” If we’re willing to honestly look at every desire, fantasy, or goal that we have, then behind them we’ll find some form of trying to overcome or improve on the past. I am the victim. My life isn’t how I’d like it to be. And if I can make this fantasy come true, then things will be much better. That kind of thinking binds us to th...
Jun 10, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 115
When we’re in pain, it’s very hard not to feel like a victim. Whether we believe we’re deserving of the suffering or an innocent bystander makes no difference. Someone or something did this to me. But what if our locus of identity is misplaced? What if the body has nothing to do with our reality? Consider these lines from A Course in Miracles : “Whatever suffers is not part of me. What is in pain is but illusion in my mind.” Pain and suffering aren’t real. They are projections from the ego mind ...
Jun 06, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 114
Do you spend a lot of your time in the service of other people? Perhaps a boss, co-workers, family members, or friends and partners? If so, do you feel a sense of sacrifice - as if you are giving up something to benefit others? Anytime we use our time (and energy) in the service of others, it’s easy to believe that we are sacrificing something of ourselves. However, consider this line from A Course in Miracles : “You think that everyone outside yourself demands your sacrifice, but you do not see...
Jun 05, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 113
Hell is not a fiery pit of eternal damnation that awaits us. In fact, hell is nothing more than our belief in the ego thought system. Consider these lines from A Course in Miracles : “There is no hell. Hell is only what the ego has made of the present. The belief in hell is what prevents you from understanding the present, because you are afraid of it.” Escaping from our hellish experience in the world merely requires choosing against the ego mind. And we can take comfort in these words from the...
Jun 04, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 112
We think our body is the seat of “me”. In fact, whenever anything is “wrong” with the body, we say things like “my head hurts” or “I am sick”. But the body isn’t our home. The body is nothing more than a projection from our mind. Consider this quote from A Course in Miracles : “The body is the symbol of the ego, as the ego is the symbol of separation. And both are nothing more than attempts to limit communication." When we choose our ego mind, we believe we are these bodies and that other people...
Jun 03, 2019•2 min•Season 1Ep. 111
Our bodies do nothing. They don’t love. They don’t hate. They don’t get sick. They don’t get well. They aren’t attacked and they don’t defend. Consider this line from A Course in Miracles : My body is a wholly neutral thing. We give so much weight and significance to our body and other bodies. We think the seat of me-ness is within the body. When asked, “Who are you?” we answer in terms of bodily roles and functions. Yet the body is nothing but a neutral thing. All of our experiences - our range...
May 29, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 110
When I’m upset with someone I care about, I am saying you did (or didn’t do) something that I wish you hadn’t. In fact, I am judging them - or at the very least, I am judging their actions. But if I were looking through the eyes of love and saw their true nature, there could be no judgment. Consider these lines from A Course in Miracles: “Love brings no guilt at all, and what brings guilt cannot be love and must be anger. All anger is nothing more than an attempt to make someone feel guilty.” So...
May 28, 2019•1 min•Season 1Ep. 109
