T-30.I.1. Decisions are
continuous. 2 You do not always know when you are making them. 3 But with a
little practice with the ones you recognize, a set begins to form which sees
you through the rest. 4 It is not wise to let yourself become preoccupied with every
step you take. 5 The proper set, adopted consciously each time you wake, will
put you well ahead. 6 And if you find resistance strong and dedication weak,
you are not ready. 7 Do not fight yourself. 8 But think about the
kind of day you want, and tell yourself there is a way in which this very day
can happen just like that. 9 Then try again to have the day you want.
T-30.I.2. (1) The outlook
starts with this:
2 Today I will make no decisions by myself.
3 This means that you are
choosing not to be the judge of what to do. 4 But it must also mean you will
not judge the situations where you will be called upon to make response. 5 For
if you judge them, you have set the rules for how you should react to them. 6
And then another answer cannot but produce confusion and uncertainty and fear.
T-30.I.3. This is your major
problem now. 2 You still make up your mind, and then decide to
ask what you should do. 3 And what you hear may not resolve the problem as you
saw it first. 4 This leads to fear, because it contradicts what you perceive
and so you feel attacked. 5 And therefore angry. 6 There are rules by which
this will not happen. 7 But it does occur at first, while you are learning how
to hear.
T-30.I.4. (2) Throughout the
day, at any time you think of it and have a quiet moment for reflection, tell
yourself again the kind of day you want; the feelings you would have, the
things you want to happen to you, and the things you would experience, and say:
2 If I make no decisions by myself, this is the day that will be
given me.
3 These two procedures,
practiced well, will serve to let you be directed without fear, for opposition
will not first arise and then become a problem in itself.
T-30.I.5. But there will
still be times when you have judged already. 2 Now the answer will provoke
attack, unless you quickly straighten out your mind to want an answer that will
work. 3 Be certain this has happened if you feel yourself unwilling to sit by
and ask to have the answer given you. 4 This means you have decided by yourself,
and can not see the question. 5 Now you need a quick restorative before you ask
again.
T-30.I.6. (3) Remember once
again the day you want, and recognize that something has occurred that is not
part of it. 2 Then realize that you have asked a question by yourself, and must
have set an answer in your terms. 3 Then say:
4 I have no question. 5 I forgot what to decide.
6 This cancels out the terms
that you have set, and lets the answer show you what the question must have
really been.
T-30.I.7. Try to observe this
rule without delay, despite your opposition. 2 For you have already gotten
angry. 3 And your fear of being answered in a different way from what your
version of the question asks will gain momentum, until you believe the day you
want is one in which you get your answer to your question.
4 And you will not get it, for it would destroy the day by robbing you of what
you really want. 5 This can be very hard to realize, when once you have decided
by yourself the rules that promise you a happy day. 6 Yet this decision still
can be undone, by simple methods that you can accept.
T-30.I.8. (4) If you are so
unwilling to receive you cannot even let your question go, you can begin to
change your mind with this:
2 At least I can decide I do not like what I feel now.
3 This much is obvious, and
paves the way for the next easy step.
T-30.I.9. (5) Having decided
that you do not like the way you feel, what could be easier than to continue
with:
2 And so I hope I have been wrong.
3 This works against the
sense of opposition, and reminds you that help is not being thrust upon you but
is something that you want and that you need, because you do not like the way
you feel. 4 This tiny opening will be enough to let you go ahead with just a
few more steps you need to let yourself be helped.
T-30.I.10. Now you have
reached the turning point, because it has occurred to you that you will gain if
what you have decided is not so. 2 Until this point is reached, you will
believe your happiness depends on being right. 3 But this much reason have you
now attained; you would be better off if you were wrong.
T-30.I.11. (6) This tiny
grain of wisdom will suffice to take you further. 2 You are not coerced, but
merely hope to get a thing you want. 3 And you can say in perfect honesty:
4 I want another way to look at this.
5 Now you have changed your
mind about the day, and have remembered what you really want. 6 Its purpose has
no longer been obscured by the insane belief you want it for the goal of being
right when you are wrong. 7 Thus is the readiness for asking brought to your
awareness, for you cannot be in conflict when you ask for what you want, and
see that it is this for which you ask.
T-30.I.12. (7) This final
step is but acknowledgment of lack of opposition to be helped. 2 It is a statement
of an open mind, not certain yet, but willing to be shown:
3 Perhaps there is another way to look at this.
4 What can I lose by asking?
4 What can I lose by asking?
5 Thus you now can ask a
question that makes sense, and so the answer will make sense as well. 6 Nor
will you fight against it, for you see that it is you who will be helped by it.
T-30.I.13. It must be clear
that it is easier to have a happy day if you prevent unhappiness from entering
at all. 2 But this takes practice in the rules that will protect you from the
ravages of fear. 3 When this has been achieved, the sorry dream of judgment has
forever been undone. 4 But meanwhile, you have need for practicing the rules
for its undoing. 5 Let us, then, consider once again the very first of the
decisions which are offered here.
T-30.I.14. We said you can
begin a happy day with the determination not to make decisions by yourself. 2
This seems to be a real decision in itself. 3 And yet, you cannot make
decisions by yourself. 4 The only question really is with what you choose to
make them. 5 That is really all. 6 The first rule, then, is not coercion, but a
simple statement of a simple fact. 7 You will not make decisions by yourself
whatever you decide. 8 For they are made with idols or with God. 9 And you ask
help of anti-Christ or Christ, and which you choose will join with you and tell
you what to do.
T-30.I.15. Your day is not at
random. 2 It is set by what you choose to live it with, and how the friend
whose counsel you have sought perceives your happiness. 3 You always ask advice
before you can decide on anything. 4 Let this be understood, and you can see
there cannot be coercion here, nor grounds for opposition that you may be free.
5 There is no freedom from what must occur. 6 And if you think there is, you
must be wrong.
T-30.I.16. The second rule as
well is but a fact. 2 For you and your adviser must agree on what you want
before it can occur. 3 It is but this agreement that permits all things to
happen. 4 Nothing can be caused without some form of union, be it with a dream
of judgment or the Voice for God. 5 Decisions cause results because they
are not made in isolation. 6 They are made by you and your adviser, for
yourself and for the world as well. 7 The day you want you offer to the world,
for it will be what you have asked for, and will reinforce the rule of your
adviser in the world. 8 Whose kingdom is the world for you today? 9 What kind
of day will you decide to have?
T-30.I.17. It needs but two
who would have happiness this day to promise it to all the world. 2 It needs
but two to understand that they cannot decide alone, to guarantee the joy they
asked for will be wholly shared. 3 For they have understood the basic law that
makes decision powerful, and gives it all effects that it will ever have. 4 It
needs but two. 5 These two are joined before there can be a decision. 6 Let
this be the one reminder that you keep in mind, and you will have the day you want,
and give it to the world by having it yourself. 7 Your judgment has been lifted
from the world by your decision for a happy day. 8 And as you have received, so
must you give.
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