A Practice Point is a section of material at the end of each chapter that delves deeper into specific aspects of that chapter. It allows you to understand more detail of these aspects and gives a tool to use and practice to improve your ability to create that aspect into your life. Below is one sample Practice Point (out of 48 in the book) for your pleasure.
Spirit’s Course in Creating
Practice Point #1 – 7
Feelings Around Not Creating Your Desire
This Practice Point is designed to help you work through your own issues of feeling helpless and unable to manifest what you want.
Your issues of feeling helpless, feeling unable or incapable of manifesting what you want is an emotional state based in fear.
Neither belief is grounded in fact. The reality is that you have created exactly what you believe each and every moment. If you truly, deep down believe you are incapable of creating your desire; that is what you have created for yourself – the reality of not having your desire.
You are, in fact, creating as you believe. When you believe you are helpless or unable to manifest your desire, you are creating your reality out of a deeper belief. The deeper belief is steeped in fear. The fear is based on perceptions derived from past experiences. Your past experiences may not have resulted in an actual event that would be repeated as a basis of the fear. It merely needs to have been an experience that gave your mind the ability to use it to perceive a future possibility may occur. This future possibility is judged negatively and cited as what would happen following a certain chain of events.
Your mind also uses other people’s experiences to the same end. Your mind has also used combinations of yours and other people’s experiences and altered them enough over time to create the same result. You have been through this many times. It seems very real to you. You find it difficult to see which memories are real and which have been altered in even a small way.
Memories serve many purposes. In this Practice Point, We are concerned with the relationship memories have with your current thinking. You understand that memory is not perfect recollection. A better way of thinking about your memories is that they are a re-collection, almost like a remix.
This remix of your stored information is done by you, to serve you. Whatever your needs are, your mind will alter your memory just enough to comply.
Remember that you are creating every aspect of your life in every moment. There is not one part of your life that you do not have an active role in co-creating. Given that, you can understand how your memory is created by you, to serve you.
Knowing that your memory is created to serve your needs, you can now see more clearly, its affect on your current beliefs. Each of your beliefs is derived from your experiences. Your experiences are a compilation of actual firsthand knowledge, stories related to you by others and logic-derived conclusions, as well as fear based thoughts of what could be.
They are all grouped within experiences that you draw from to derive your beliefs. Among these experiences could be situations where you sought after a desire and did not manifest it. Situations you created for yourself where you did not manifest your desire could be viewed by you as proof of your inability to manifest. You could focus on this to the point of seeing yourself as helpless.
This is fear based thought focused inward at yourself. It is the Law of Attraction expanding what you place your thought energy into. The way you got into this belief is the same way out.
To change your belief pattern, focus your thought energy into that which you choose to attract and expand in your life. As you saw and then focused your attention on your lack of manifesting, which created that reality, you just as easily switch your attention and focus to creating and attracting what you desire.
Here is an exercise to practice your ability to create your desire as you see it. Think of this exercise as a way of training your mind to refocus away from what you say you don’t want to what you truly desire.
This is a long-term exercise that will need much practice beyond the reading of these pages. We encourage you to give this exercise a concerted effort that will truly change your life in a direction that pleases you.
Take your time in reading this and think about how it feels to you as you read the words and imagine yourself doing this exercise.
“Place your body into a relaxed seated position. Think of something you have created in your life that you would like changed. This could be anything (thought, habit, ailment, problem, etc.) that is in your life right now that you want to diminish or remove. Take your time to think of something you want to use in this exercise.
Now that you have chosen something, think back to a time when you did not have this unwanted issue. Think back to a time before this became an issue when it didn’t enter your mind that it would ever be a concern to you.
Imagine what that felt like. Imagine what your life was like then. Focus on the positive aspects of your life then without this concern.
Imagine how good you felt about yourself, life, everything.
See yourself living this carefree existence without this problem. See yourself smiling, happy, enjoying your life.
Bring all of these good visions and feelings forward in time. Bring all of this goodness into your present awareness, here and now.
Feel these good, happy emotions in your body, in your mind right now, here, where you are sitting. See yourself in this present moment, feeling good and happy and better than you were.
Focus on this feeling. Focus on this image. See yourself as you choose to be in this better, improved state.
Now, hold this as your new image of Who You Are in this moment. When you think of this image of yourself, always see it in the present moment. Thinking about this in the past or future will not create this image into your reality, it must be thought about in the present moment.
Even if you are experiencing the problem, especially when you are immersed in the problem; in order to change it, see yourself differently, better, happy, as you choose to be.”
Some may think of this as wishful thinking or some other trick of your imagination. Since it is a use of your imagination, it is the best use of your ability to create what you desire rather than recreating what you don’t want.
This is an easy exercise that can be condensed into seconds, with little practice. It can be done in the moment, while doing anything and abbreviated to just a mental picture. This mental picture is your new vision of Who You Are that you are placing thought energy into, to create and attract into your reality.