Friday, January 1, 2010

2010: Nothing New But Opportunities

The 365th page of ACIM, which easily aligns with our cultural new-year resolution sentiments, begins the section VI. Setting the Goal.

The "January 1st" page, 366, continues with such guidance as:
In any situation in which you are uncertain, the first thing to consider, very simply, is "What do I want to come of this [e.g., year]? What is it for? the clarification of the goal belongs at the beginning, for it is this which will determine the outcome.
It goes on to state that a "clear-cut, positive goal" is needed "set at the outset."

I, like many I'm sure, like to set goals to start at calendar beginnings: the start of a week, month, or a year. It's a habit that ACIM's structure seems to take into consideration:
  • 31 text chapters for the 31 days of most months
  • Reading a page a day would keep you about a month early from yearly events like Christmas/New Year and Holy Week/Easter
  • 365 workbook lessons
While ACIM seems to accommodate, if not anticipate my use of time, it also clearly shows how I waste it. If I lose my focus, I wait until the next calendar beginning to reset it. For example, losing my focus on day 7, may have me waiting three weeks to restart.

ACIM never says that the 365 lesson must be started on the first of January. It merely states that the duration of the workbook lessons is one year. So I could start any day and finish on the same day the following year. But again, I believe ACIM was structured to anticipate this tendency of mine to align to cultural starts and ends.

The benefit has been a high familiarity with the first few chapters and topics of the text and manual. And this such high familiarity is strongly encouraged at the end of the first chapter of the textbook.

But I obviously have to move on and be more vigilant in finishing what I start.

Page 366 continues:
The absence of a criterion for outcome, set in advance, makes understanding doubtful and evaluation impossible.

The value of deciding in advance what you want to happen is simply that you will perceive the situation as a means to make it happen. You will therefore make every effort to overlook what interferes with the accomplishment of your objective, and concentrate on everything that helps you meet it.

Thus part of my goal is to "Make this year different by making it all the same" (Text p.329). There is no new week, no new month, and no new year, just new opportunities. They come with each passing moment without regard to time.

Likewise, Lesson 1 of the workbook begins teaching just this sentiment of indiscrimination:
One thing is like another as far as the application of the idea is concerned.
When I let go of my self-imposed limits of when I can apply myself, then I can also let go of other behaviours and learn positive new ones.

Take courage,
Aaron

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