A few years ago, I was at an early-morning, pre-sunrise spiritual gathering with friends. Afterwards we went to breakfast and it was still early – there weren’t many people on the street. We all parked our cars in a line on the street behind each other. And when we came out of the restaurant we learned that we’d parked in a tow zone and some of us had our cars towed.
When we went to get our towed cars, it was pouring rain. Flood warnings on our phones. One friend was stressed about getting to work. The paperwork at the police station was a whole thing.
None of it bothered me.
I thought, well, this is going to cut into my writing time. I’ll go with my friend, and we’ll do it together so she’s less stressed.
At the police station, I was able to just be a chill pill – supporting my friend, working with the officer. “What about this? Could we do this? Oh, okay, that can be worked out. Great.” Just maintaining a peaceful heart in the situation.
A great goal to set: be unbotherable.
How do we get to be unbotherable? We stop making meaning of things in the world interpreted through the ego’s belief in lack and limitation. We stop investing in a narrative about what this says about us, about them, about our life.
My friend was still bothered later in the day. I shared with her – not giving advice, but offering a perspective – that I really think if she stopped judging herself for having parked the wrong way, the upset would dissolve. Because she was the lead car. We all followed her. There was guilt underneath the frustration.
A Course in Miracles tells us: “I am never upset for the reason I think.”
She wasn’t upset about the money or the hassle or being late to work. Underneath all of her stress was this belief: I did something wrong. I’m bad. Here’s the proof.
When we recognize that it’s actually not true, we can go the other way. We can change our mind. We can release the judgment and find peace right in the middle of the situation. Circumstances don’t change – our view changes.
The world is an opportunity for us to recognize our wrong thinking and to change our mind. To see it correctly. To bring benefit to everyone.
Everything works together for our good. Even the tow truck. Even the flood warnings. Even the hassle at the police station. We really can begin to see it all as beneficial to us.
This is our divine opportunity.
Our Change Your Mind About the World program starts TODAY, Saturday, May 30 and it’s all about cultivating this unbotherable presence – learning to see the world as working for us, always.
Let’s become unbotherable together!
TODAY, SATURDAY Our Change Your Mind About the World program is built on this very principle – becoming peace activists by changing our mind about what we see.
Are you upset by what you see in the world – join with Alan Cohen, James Twyman, Michael Mirdad, Lisa Natoli and me – we’re bringing the darkness to the light together in this 5 week program that begins tomorrow, Saturday, May 30. Click here for more info.
LATEST PODCAST EPISODE: Forgiveness, Not Perfection with Michael Mirdad Most of us who love A Course in Miracles have done it: tried to work the lessons harder, study more, finally get forgiveness right. Underneath the effort, there’s often a quiet shame that we’re still not living it well enough. I felt that for years. This week I sat down with Michael Mirdad, and we kept circling something ACIM says about all that striving, something most of us read right past. What if we’ve misunderstood what’s actually being asked of us?
