In the past, I so often wanted progress to come in leaps and bounds. I was usually in a hurry to move forward and away from where I thought I was Now I know that where I am in my unfolding awakening is precisely where the richnness of life is, the richnness always used to appear richer where I was headed.
Vincent Van Gogh is, quite possibly, my all-time favorite painter. Vincent had studied for the priesthood and had a profound desire to know God fully. I absolutely loved reading the letters he wrote to his brother, Theo. Vincent understood the nature of creative progress, he wrote, “To make progress is a kind of miner’s work; it doesn’t advance as quickly as one would like, and as others expect, but as one stands before such a task, the basic necessities are patience and faithfulness. In fact, I do not think much about the difficulties, because if one thought of them too much one would get stunned or disturbed.” What words of wisdom! His dedication and devotion to his personal progress is so clear in that statement and I bless him and love him as my teacher.
When I thought as a newbie thought then I imagined that progress came in the leap to my next “aha” moment. I set my intention to be masterful. Masters understand that true progress comes when we learn how to incorporate the leap into our life. It is in learning how to embody the leap that I grow, not in the leap itself. Aspiring to be masterful, I witness that my progress is in absorbing into my daily practice what I’ve learned during the last leap. In this way the path to mastery is a staircase of leaps and embodiment.
Today I take time to acknowledge how far I’ve come and to give thanks for every sweet step of progress. As my teacher, Ned Cobb, said, “To learn anything at all is a blessing.” With every mistake I’ve learned something valuable that is part of my progression into mastery and I’m grateful for the learning that supports my growth. Although I frequently make mistakes, my walk is one of continual progression and for that I am very grateful. In my ever-expanding conscious awareness I share the benefits of my learning with all beings and so every mistake and every bit of progress moves the entire world in the direction of peace. For this awareness I am so very, deeply and humbly grateful.
Harvesting the learning from our mistakes is part of the theme in the next Living A Course in Miracles series. We have 16 classes – all totally free – beginning on September 5th! Please join Gary Renard, Colin Tipping, Nouk Sanchez, Regina Dawn Akers, myself and more! Register now and we’ll make sure you get all the details! Everything is at LivingACourseinMiracles.com.