Greetings All –
Step 107 - Today I will
learn to be happy. (MP3)
[Open in Drive or copy to
your Drive – Download folder or play from Drive – Step PDF also.]
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"Today I will learn to be happy." Step107
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LEARNING TO BE HAPPY IS SIMPLY LEARNING TO BE
NATURAL. Learning to be happy is learning to accept Knowledge today. Knowledge
is happy today. If you are not happy, you are not with Knowledge. Happiness
does not always mean having a smile on your face. It is not a behavior. Genuine
happiness is a sense of self, a sense of wholeness and satisfaction. If a loss
has occurred in your life, a loss of a loved one, you may still be happy,
though you may shed tears. It is all right to shed tears, for this does not
need to betray a greater happiness within you, for these also may be tears of
happiness. Happiness is not a form of behavior. Let us remind you of this. It
is a sense of inner satisfaction. Knowledge will give this to you because it
will simplify your life and allow your mind to concentrate on that which it is
given to do in reality. This will empower you, simplify you and provide a greater
harmony than you could have known before.
THEREFORE, IN YOUR TWO PRACTICE PERIODS TODAY,
allow your mind to enter stillness once again. This is a time of quietude. This
is not a practice of mental investigation, but a practice of mental stillness.
PRACTICE 107: Two 30-minute practice periods.
From
the journal:
Sunday,
October 31, 1999
10:
09 A.M. There are no masters living in the world. What do I see? Who have I
known? Who do I respect?
For
one – my father – Everette. He has led a good life. I've had more education,
more exposure to the world, but I respect him for the quality of his life.
There
are many in the world with power and a sense of direction. Most teaching comes
from elsewhere – ACIM, RUOW, Urantia, the Bible – S2K – it is all from
elsewhere to be applied in the earth context. The cultural leaders, the
politicians, artists, actors, writers, revolutionaries – all work within the found
environment using the available building blocks – even to make new building
blocks.
It
seems to be going forward. Certainly the number/mass of humanity increases and
the number of transactions increases. Pieces have masters – or high artisans –
but all is contextual for humans. Mastery of sustainability is in the deep
biology – plants and animals, life forms that have kept their niche in the
biosphere for eons.
Peace
dynamic is the perspective I feel needed. No master advocates that. Few
understand my perspective. That doesn't make it wrong.
Krishnamurti
is a man who helped me think – he was one who promoted knowledge – but was
silent on spirit.
Jesus
said, "Choose life that you may have abundance." S2K says, "Life
is the master." So choosing life is acknowledging its mastery.
Our
environment has changed – does that affect but the choice is or how the
choice is lived?
9:30
PM
Session
#2 – There are no masters living in the world today.
–
What is my mastery? Avoidance, fear, self-pity, eating, having no discipline,
self – defeating thoughts, poor relationships, not being understood, missing
opportunities, having no friend, weakness, eating everything in sight, avoiding
decisions, avoiding work, missing sleep, not continuing exercise, not adapting
to bifocals, being lost, not accepting leadership, ignoring my intuition, not
paying attention to finance and investments, thinking big and a small way,
writing in journals but not publishing, trying to play music w/o learning how,
having poor relationships with women, being on a different page, losing myself
in the woods, seeking – but not finding, staying up late and depriving myself
of sleep, avoiding physical pain, listening w/o judgment to my children,
supporting continued family dysfunction, staying up late & will falling
asleep in my chair, hiding, reading books and not following them, making
lists/plans and doing something else, wasting time on the Internet,
believing/disbelieving, not caring, wishing for other things, spacing out
6:44
PM 11/1/99 – a rather comprehensive list –
This first run through
of this Step was useful. A brain stretch. The following year was a bit different;
still long.
NNC
Journal
second time x2 Step 106.
This is for those who have completed Steps
once. Doing Steps with only the texts, messages and your life experience,
including what you may have studied and practiced is your journey. I’m showing
Step comments after the Step, so as not to influence you in advance. It is a
wilderness trek to be left to your own wits, but then you can also listen more
closely for guides, angels and teachers, always first saying: “I surround and
protect myself with the Love and the Grace of God.” Thankfully, I was taught
this practice in 1989.
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.
