Today I Will Make No Decisions by Myself

Since this morning, I had an ACIM text on my mind about Christ guidance. Entering the remembered phrases into the search box of the book publisher, I’ve found the chapter I was looking for – 30.1.

This particular chapter explains that we can only have a truly happy day if we don’t make decisions by ourselves.

It also explains that actually it’s impossible to make a decision alone – you either side with the ego, or with God (and I’m saying this in my own words).

Since God is love, He wishes you only the best, so siding with Him you’ll have a truly good day. And since the ego wishes you death, what it gives will somehow turn into fear, anger or other unpleasantness, though it can give periods of seeming happiness as well.

It’s so usual for us to leave God out of our decision-making process, and we are so identified with our egos, that it really feels like we make decisions on our own.

ACIM explains that to have a wonderful day, you need to think of an ideal day your divine Self (and not the materialistic ego) wants to have, and then say:

If I make no decisions by myself, this is the day that will be given me.

You can repeat this method any time of the day you like, as many times as you want. But the most effective time for this method is in the morning, when you just wake up, as then you’re starting your day right.

You shouldn’t be preoccupied with every step that you take in the day, but to just remind yourself that this day is guided by Christ and not you.

Since you’ve affirmed you’ll make no decisions by yourself, this also means not judging the situations you’ll be put in. As if you judge them, you’ll interpret them in your own way, and what could be a blessing could turn into a disaster.

So once you’ve affirmed that you’ll make no decisions by yourself, be totally non-judgmental of what will happen to you and around you. God then will be able to use you to bring happiness to yourself and others, and to give love to you from other people, and for others to receive your love as well.

This reminds me the first time I really decided to be guided by Christ, and this happened during my trip from India to Lithuania, almost two months ago.

On the entire long journey home, which included a taxi, two flights, two buses and a neighbor’s car (if my memory serves right!), my mind was totally open, judging nothing, and affirming that everything was in Christ’s hands.

The entire trip went without any delays or obstacles, and I ended up making beautiful friends! I posted a video about my wonderful travel experience here.

But it’s not easy to give up your decision-making. We are so used to thinking we know what’s best for us, that it’s not easy to give it up. You may find that you struggle giving even a small issue for Christ to resolve, being firmly confident that you know better.

So it requires practice to get to the stage of total trust. For me personally, I sometimes find that it’s easier for me to give big decisions to Christ, and especially to surrender when the situation is difficult. But for small things, I sometimes find it very hard to let go!

It’s common to try to steer the situation to what you want, only seemingly giving it into Christ’s hands.

For example, maybe you want to go out, so instead of asking what you should do today, you’ve already decided that. So the question you ask is “Where should I go out?” or “When today should I go out?”, instead of leaving for Christ to decide whether you should go out in the first place.

In the mentioned chapter, it is told that if you’ve already made up your mind, you’re not going to hear the right question and answer unless you undo your decision. So if the motivation is already present to do something, here’s a way to undo it:

Remember once again the day you want, and recognize that something has occurred that is not part of it. ²Then realize that you have asked a question by yourself, and must have set an answer in your terms. ³Then say:

⁴I have no question. ⁵I forgot what to decide.

⁶This cancels out the terms that you have set, and lets the answer show you what the question must have really been.

(ACIM, T-30.I.6:1-6)

If this doesn’t work, a more elaborate procedure is explained in ACIM T-30.1.8-12.

Once your mind is clear, you can simply ask Christ to give you signs whether to proceed with what you have in mind or to drop it.

I’ll share how I used this strategy today.

Around a month ago now, I ordered some things from Temu. Unfortunately, this Chinese company uses a very ineffective logistics company of Lithuania – Omniva.

It made two errors in delivering my parcel, resulting in 8+ days of my parcel going around Lithuania and reaching the same post box which it was collected from, instead of reaching my home.

This whole situation probably wouldn’t even have taken place if I had asked for Christ’s guidance before ordering anything. But it is what it is, and that’s the situation I found myself in.

Not wanting them to again circle my parcel around Lithuania and mistakenly place it back into the same locker, I decided to go on my ebike to the locker facility to take it myself, though that meant one hour of riding, and then riding back with a heavy parcel.

But then, I remembered that I should ask Christ first.

So I asked Christ to give me signs whether to go to collect the parcel or not. I told Christ that if I proceeded with the preparation of the trip and obstacles arose, that would also be a sign not to go.

I sat still and paid attention if anything would come up. My eyes caught darker clouds through the window. I checked a weather forecast on my phone and rain was predicted in three hours’ time, as well as the next day.

That was quite a clear sign, but still, just to make sure, I asked again if I should go, and I slowly arose as though to prepare for the trip.

As soon as I did, I felt a definite no with my entire being. It was not a word that I’d heard, it was more like the whole body was not going to go on that trip, that’s the best way to describe it.

So that was a clear enough sign for me to forget about the trip.

One hour later, as I was working in my garden adjusting the bird net over my tomatoes (magpies love my farm, and they can be little thieves!), rain had started – two hours earlier than forecasted. Were I pedaling on my bike, I would be in a miserable state indeed.

So I’m learning at the moment to not forget to put my day into the hands of Christ, instead of making decisions seemingly by myself.

I hope this teaching will inspire you to also place your day into the hands of your true Self.