| I had a rough few days.
As I watch the world implode, the virus surge, the markets plunge — my doctor tells me I need cataract surgery. Anything with the eyes terrifies me. My head fills with worse case scenarios. I fall into a very dark place, unable to find my way out. Then I remember what A Course in Miracles calls “the most important concept that exists in the universe—”the Law of Cause and Effect.” The Course explains this law very differently from the world’s more generally accepted Newtonian explanation. The Course insists that nothing ‘out there’ has anything to do with my feeling happy or scared. My thoughts are always the cause. If I want to change my experience—from, say, fear to tranquility—I must first change my thoughts. “Seek not to change the world,” the Course tells me, “but change your mind about the world.” I’ve long followed the Course’s wisdom. But this time I’m struggling. I can’t seem to “change my mind about the world” while I’m sinking in a quicksand of negative thinking. Suddenly, my eyes land on a blue post-it note lying on my desk. On it is an affirmation I penned when the pandemic first broke. “I can handle this.” Those four words feel tremendously comforting. I can handle this. I say them again and again until I feel my fear subside. I believe this worked for one reason. I didn’t deny my fear or try to numb it by trying to convince myself everything is going to be fine and dandy I reframed it and thus transformed it. I reassured myself that whatever happens, I would be able to handle it. And somewhere deep inside, I knew that was true. How do you calm your fears when they seem insurmountable? Tell me about it below. |
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