2/24/15

Step 55 - I will accept the world as it is. (MP3) Entry for Step 54 - I will not live in idealism.



Greetings All –

Step 55 - I will accept the world as it is. (MP3) [Open in Drive or copy to your Drive – Download folder or play from Drive – Step PDF also.]

I will accept the world as it is. Step 55

IDEALISM IS THE ATTEMPT NOT TO ACCEPT THE WORLD AS IT IS. It justifies blame and condemnation. It establishes expectations of a life that does not yet exist and thus renders you vulnerable to grave disappointment. Your idealism fortifies your condemnation.

ACCEPT THE WORLD TODAY AS IT IS, not as you want it to be. With acceptance comes love, for you cannot love a world that you want to exist. You can only love a world that exists as it is. Accept yourself now as you exist, and true desire for change and advancement will naturally emerge within you. Idealism justifies condemnation. Recognize this great truth, and you will begin to have a more immediate and profound experience of life and of that which is genuine and not based upon hope or expectation but upon true engagement.

THEREFORE, IN YOUR TWO 30-MINUTE PRACTICE PERIODS TODAY, concentrate on accepting things exactly as they are. You are not condoning violence, conflict or ignorance in doing this. You are merely accepting the conditions that exist so that you may work with them constructively. Without this acceptance, you have no starting place for true engagement. Allow the world to be exactly as it is, for it is this world that you have come to serve.

PRACTICE 55: Two 30-minute practice periods.



Picture: 
There are many aspects of the world that we will need to learn to live with as it has become impacted by many forces, including cumulative human action. This machine visualizes data relating to the individual aspects. I found it in the terminal of Love Field, Dallas, Texas.

Idealism is again the focus. Reading these steps slowly, carefully and deeply is useful every time these steps are done.


Again on this day, September 9, 1999, no journal entry on my part. The next entry is:

1:17 A.M. Saturday, Sept 11, 1999 _ This has been a tough week. ... work has been crazy; S2K exercises have been hard to get to. Where am I?

This flashback is just to encourage you to push on and stick to the program. In contrast, on the second time through I did record both practices - check this if you wish Journal 2nd Time Step 54. 

NNC


P.S. If you’ve some interest due to this or other Steps, you should go to the beginning blog post. From here you will learn about Steps to Knowledge and can begin it on the day that makes sense; then progress as needed. You can use the posts on this blog as a companion if it helps. They will remain in order in the archives - one post per Step.

Often it takes 18 months to get through the Steps once. For this blog, the pace is one-a-day, but it really makes no difference how fast you do it, only that you begin, persist and repeat. Posts here provide a trail that may let you have a virtual companion when and if you want one. One may have to study alone, as I did in the beginning. There are other Steps students blogging their experience and you might find a person more like you as a companion, or use a number of such Steps journeys. There are options as well through the Free School of the New Message.