I started working out at the gym two days ago. I got a 3-month gym membership for Christmas, which is exactly what I wanted.
So even though a gym membership is something that I REALLY REALLY wanted, every day I don’t want to go. It’s a struggle to make the effort. I sigh several times. I procrastinate enormously. I think about how I don’t want to sweat and get changed and take a shower and get changed again. Too much work.
But then I think about the benefits. I think about all the incredible clothes in my closet that will fit me once again. I think about how great it feels to move, and how I have more energy. I’m happier.
I love the line from the movie Legally Blonde with Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods, where she is a lawyer’s assistant and they are defending an exercise instructor, Brooke, who’s charged with murdering her husband, and the main lawyer thinks their client did kill the husband and Elle steps in to defend her by saying:
” I just don’t think Brooke could have done this. Exercise gives you endorphins – endorphins make people happy and happy people just don’t shoot their husbands … They don’t.”
hahaha. It’s my favorite movie, ever.
Click here: ENDORPHINS MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY to watch the clip on youtube.
So what’s the point of this? Exercise makes you happy.
The daily Workbook Lessons of A Course in Miracles is about EXERCISE. It’s about being in TRAINING. You may hate it in the beginning. You probably will. You may dread coming here. You may resist listening to the lesson. You may procrastinate. You may do every possible thing to avoid the thing that will ultimately make you feel better.
That’s the paradox. We all know what we need to do to feel better, look better, be happier … and yet we resist.
BUT NOT THIS YEAR.
Now, we’ll make the extra effort. We’ll set aside time each day. We’ll follow instructions. We’ll make small changes to see big results. Rah-Rah-Rah.
I’m thinking of Elle Woods again, from Legally Blonde. You really should watch that movie. Get a copy and watch it. Elle will inspire you. In the face of adversity, she is always true to herself, always inspiring other people, always present. She’s not always happy, but she never stays in misery. SHE CHANGES HER MIND IN EVERY SITUATION.
That’s A Course in Miracles. In every situation, you begin to see another solution, a different way of reacting, a new way of thinking.
It’s not about becoming a spiritual person, all high & mighty & holier than thou … it’s about becoming YOURSELF as God created you. You’re best, brightest version of yourself, without all your self-imposed limitations.
YOU GET TO BE YOURSELF. Your happy, joyful, playful self.
That’s a miracle.
Here’s today’s audio Talkcast lesson: ACIM LESSON 4 WITH LISA NATOLI.
These early lessons, I am going to keep it simple. We are just getting started. I don’t want to overwhelm you. We’re taking baby steps. One little step at a time.
Keep it Simple.
Here in the beginning, I want to stress the importance of following instructions exactly without trying to understand what the lessons mean.
Good Morning!
Here we are.
Day 3/Lesson 3. I do not understand anything I see in this room, on this street, from this window, in this place.
If I am not here yet by the time you arrive in the morning, please go do the lesson.
Remember, YOU HAVE TO DO THE WORK.
I’m just here simply as a reminder and a guide. So if you click to Gorgeous for God in the morning and I’m not here yet, let that be a reminder to you to go open the book and read the lesson.
If you’ve already done the lesson for the day, then you can read something from the text of A Course in Miracles or the Teachers Manual.
This year is all about PRACTICING.
I don’t want to become a crutch for you, and I’m not the entertainment committee.
I am guiding you to KNOW you have your own internal teacher that you can listen to and trust. The beautiful part about A Course in Miracles is that you don’t need to depend on anyone else, on any other teacher, or any group. Everything you need is contained in that blue book .. and there it sits, just waiting to be opened.
Really, everything you need is contained inside you – and A Course in Miracles is an instruction guide to unlock all those hidden places in your mind that you have shut off from your awareness. It will bring back to you the memory of your own perfection.
So Day 3/Lesson 3. Nothing I see means anything.
If you simply DO this lesson all through the day, in every circumstance, in every situation, you will never have another problem ever again.
Something is yelling at you? Say to yourself: I do not understand anything I see.
Get an upsetting e-mail? Say to yourself: I do not understand what is going on here.
Fired from your job? No money? Unexpected bill? Say to yourself: I do not understand what is happening.
If you do not understand what is happening, you will not react. You will be present. There will be no basis for you attacking, defending yourself or explaining or trying to fix the problem …. because you will not understand what you see. If you don’t understand what you see, you will not know how to solve or react in that situation.
You will simply stand still.
Standing still in NOT KNOWING will clear away all past associations of how to solve the problem or behave. When you pause and stop and be a little child who does not know, who does not understand … you allow something new to occur. You allow a space for something new to be revealed. A new way of behaving. A new way of dealing with the situation. Mostly you became an observer. Just watching what is happening around you. You are no longer participating in the drama because you’ll be standing on the sideline thinking:
I don’t know what the hell is going on here. I don’t understand anything I see.
Don’t try to understand what this lessons means. Just practice. Simply do what the lesson says. Apply it to every situation you find yourself in today> I do not understand anything I see.
To listen to today’s Daily ACIM Talkcast, click here: ACIM Lesson 3 with Lisa Natoli
All the past lessons are there. Just click the LISTEN button – nothing to download, nothing complicated. What could be simpler? Just click LISTEN.
Here we are. A lot has happened in the last 48 hours, in the most marvelous way.
I have a new daily audio show A Course in Miracles with Lisa Natoli, thanks to A Course in Miracles Radio on The Miracle Times.
You can listen in every single day!
I totally love it.
Read more on Sue’s A Course In Miracles Blog
It’s a one year audio program to help you go through all 365 lessons of the workbook of A Course in Miracles. My main goal is to help you be inspired, guided, activated and encouraged to do the work. I’ll be here as a friend when you get afraid. I’ll be here as a constant light when you want to quit. But mostly I’ll be like evil Jillian on the show The Biggest Loser, and kick your butt.
You’ll see definite results if you make the decision to show up every day. You will change. You will feel lighter, happier, more joyful, and more peaceful. I sound like a television commercial, right?
Well, stick around. And see for yourself.
This is a class about A Course in Miracles so you absolutely, positively must have a copy of the book A Course in Miracles. It’s not an option, it’s mandatory. Not having the book is like wanting to get in shape, really wanting to see a change in your life, but then never getting up off the couch and moving. You need to move. A Course in Miracles is about ACTION of mind. You must begin to move.
So your first action is to:
1. buy A Course in Miracles.
If you have an old copy that is marked up with writing, you need to buy a new copy.
You might ask: why do I need a new copy? My old copy is fine.
You need a new copy for the same reason you shouldn’t train in old sneakers that are 5 years old, and falling apart at the seams. You’ll have much better results in a new pair of Nikes.
The other reason is because I’m the teacher and I am asking you to trust me. I am asking you to follow instructions. I can help you, but only if you trust me, listen to what I say, and do it.
2. The other thing that will be a tremendous help for you is to get a copy of my book new Gorgeous for God. It will make things simpler for you, as you begin.
You don’t NEED it, but I am highly recommending it.
You do need A Course in Miracles. That’s a requirement if you want to participate in the 365 days with me, and begin to see a change in your life.
So, that’s pretty much it as we begin.
I’m going to keep things simple, especially at the beginning.
After I recorded today’s lesson and instruction (which you can click below and listen to), I started thinking: Oh, I should have said this! And I should have said that! Oh, they need to know this!
and then I caught myself and said: LISA CALM DOWN. They are just starting. Don’t overwhelm anyone, and especially don’t overwhelm yourself.
I have learned that the human condition (based on my own personal experience) is one that wants to cut corners, take a shortcut, cram in more for faster results, be an overachiever, and prove that you can be the exception that “gets it” without following instructions. You know what I am talking about. A diet asks you to take baby steps for 1 pound a week weight loss and instead you decide you’re going to be the miracle story that loses 10 pounds in a week. You know what happens every time. You quit within the first 4 days proclaiming the diet doesn’t work.
The diet works. Any program works if you have commitment, dedication, and willingness to simply do what it says, and not try and re-invent the wheel. There is a great saying: SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE.
So, in the beginning, we’re gonna start slow.
I promise to always be myself. I make a commitment to show up here every day.
Together, we will witness miracles.
DAY 2/LESSON 2 Click here to go to the ACIM Talkcast Page, then click LESSON 2
Have fun.
PS: Advance apologies on the 2-minute music song clip, and the horrendous quality. I am laughing a little bit, actually. I say: here’s my favorite song from the 80′s and it turns out to be a whole lot of NOISE. haha. So I’ve learned I cannot play music off Youtube into a Macintosh internal microphone. Live and Learn. That is the whole premise of A Course in Miracles. Make a mistake and immediately see the correction. I know I’ll never do that again.
Sound quality is a little choppy. Sorry about that. I’ll be fixing that in the next day or two, but i still wanted to post these audio files here for you now:
Drawing your Circle (like Jesus did in the desert for 40 days) with Lisa Natoli
And … big drumroll please…. and the crowds go wild …
Marianne Williamson on Oprah Radio on Lesson #1 (8 minute clip)
I made a plan to be in bed by 11pm tonight, but here it is already seven minutes to the stroke of midnight … 2008!!!!
I can’t believe it. Time just raced by me today. This morning I got a message from Gorgeous Girl Sue Maybury over at The Miracle Times asking me if I want to make a commitment to do a year-long audio show about A Course in Miracles.
!!!!
I’ve been praying for this for the past month, at least.
So today i spent the day loading programs on my computer, trying to find the right audio system, laughing over the fact that Macintosh does not have a place to plug in a microphone because it is built into the computer. I did not know this as I’ve never had a use for a microphone. The day flew by in the most spectacular way.
I want all my days to be like today.
So I recorded two audio clips tonight. The sound quality is not great. BUT BE PATIENT. I will figure out how to get a microphone to work on this computer.
Stepping over from writing to audio is pushing me out of the comfort-zone. It’s terrifying and exciting at the same time. You should have seen how nervous I was. But as my hero Eleanor Roosevelt said: “You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”
ACTIVE is my new word of the year to guide me.
I always like to be amazed to see what lies beneath all my self-imposed limitations. Do you know what I mean? Have you ever attempted to do something you’ve never done before? It’s thrilling. It takes your breath away. Time ceases to exist. You’re totally in the moment. I love it.
I will post links to the audio clips here daily if you are interested in doing the lesson of A Course in Miracles this year. I MAY or MAY NOT blog about it. Who knows?
It might be fun for you. Or you might all hate me within a week. I might be your worst nightmare, sounding like your mother telling you to pick up your socks and nagging at you to do the lesson. Hopefully you will love it, and tell all your friends. Whatever your reaction, if you do the work, I guarantee you will change.
Guaranteed: You will change.
NEWSFLASH: I just looked up at the time, it’s 12:05. I missed the big countdown. But it’s 2008. Happy New Year.
