Part 2 - I Am Not What I Think Nor What I Feel

Continued from Part 1 - I Am Not What I Think Nor What I Feel 

I have said many, many times in these messages I am not a human being in a body that somewhere has a soul or spirit. I am an already-loved eternal spirit currently having a human experience. When my car (my body) finally craps out, I’ll go “back home” and get a different one.

When I share openly and honestly, I share all of me: My ideas; my feelings; my inner knowledge, and my behaviors or actions. At times these are at odds with each other. At other times they are in sync. At times I contradict myself. At times I am pretty much a unified whole. I can be clear on some issues some of the time. I can be befuddled and inconsistent on those same issues at other times.

What I don’t do is tell people I’m right (implying they’re wrong). If I do think I’m right, I always say “This seems right for me.” If I find myself trying to “edit” my voice, it is exactly that. It’s my voice, my opinion, my observation, my perception of reality. I remember the true (for me) adage: un-asked-for advice or opinion is generally received as criticism. So, I don’t offer advice or opinion unless I ask if the hearer wants it. Most of the time, after recognizing I’m trying to “edit” my voice, I remember what ACIM admonishes: “Often, you need say nothing. You need do nothing.” If I say anything at all, I share of my experience. Period. What hearers want to take from that is up to them.

Gentle, open honesty. Walking the Talk – gently, compassionately, honestly – understanding there is not much difference between so-and-so’s concerns, fears, dreams, goals, and desires and mine. That’s how I try to be honest.

There is a term created by Apple Computer way back when they issued their first Macintosh – the little tower (eventually becoming Apples’ Classic computer) with the very small, but brilliantly clear screen. Its software sent to the printer what the user saw on the screen. The term was WYSIWYG – pronounced wizziwig. The acronym stands for What You See Is What You Get. In the mid-1980s it was a revolutionary breakthrough (as was the mouse, common terms for computer commands, and drop-down menus – all Apple innovations).

But, for me, to be honest and share of myself (not simply my ideas or thoughts or feelings) is to share all of me in terms of WYSIWYG. Walking the Talk. Sharing my similar experience. Sometimes, I only manage Limping the Talk or Thinking about the Talk while walking or Totally forgetting the Talk. All of this is who I am. I also try, however, very hard to avoid simply Talking the Talk. When I Talk the Talk, I am hiding me. That does neither of us any good. In fact it is very damaging for me. I have found, as well, that AA’s guidance to me is very true: I am as sick as my secrets.

I don’t want to be sick anymore. So, in gentle honestly, I share who I am in terms of my experience or I say nothing at all.

Thanks for listening. As always, feel free to share this message with your friends, family, and those with whom you are walking your spiritual path.

Don

#4 June, 2012
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