The Illusion of comfort- from A Course in Miracles
When happiness is conditional, it can be lost in an instant. Anything really that we attach to in temporary moments can and will be taken from us.
Why is it then that we place such power in those minuscule fragments of time?
It goes back to a soul-based craving for comfort FROM our Source that we perceive with our physical eyes as a need for material comfort.
“The children of God are entitled to the perfect comfort that comes from perfect trust. Until they achieve this, they waste themselves and their true creative powers on useless attempts to make themselves more comfortable by inappropriate means.” -A Course in Miracles
Think about it…
Any time you’ve had a rough day at work and use something to numb the suffering, you’re choosing a temporary source to mask it.
As we ALL know, it won’t work to resolve the root cause.
Although, it does make for a fun moment of mental getaway.
Over time, the attachment to this numbing agent becomes a pattern as we avoid actively searching for the blessing and/or lesson in the suffering. It’s as though we are unconsciously delaying the healing such that we can stay stuck in the identity WITH the suffering.
It give us an out in life.
And sometimes…
A really cool story to tell while we are at the bar drinking our sorrows away.
I’ve been there before.
I was a food addict for many years.
I thought I wanted out of the suffering.
Not until I actually got out of it did I realize that I actually wanted to stay suffering because then I didn’t have to show up for life. Chronic illness and depression gave me an excuse to play small and allow my feelings of unworthiness and shame from past mistakes to validate the internal belief that I was a just a loser at life.
A Course in Miracles goes on to say:
“…the real means are already provided, and do not involve any effort on their (the children of God) part.”
What I didn’t realize was that, while I didn’t trust myself to make the right decisions…based on my internal judgment of past mistakes…I also did not trust God to deliver me from the self-inflicted suffering I’d created.
I always tell clients that our level of trust toward God is directly related to our ability to trust ourselves.
And since that was zero…
I had no way of placing my faith in something/someone I felt was condemning me.
“Whenever you are afraid you ARE deceived, and your mind cannot serve the Holy Spirit. This starves you by denying you your daily bread…They (the children of God) must learn to look upon the world as a means of healing the separation (from God).” -ACIM
I was SO afraid.
Afraid of my potential.
Afraid of my failures.
Afraid of who I may have hurt when I made mistakes.
Afraid of my past…present…and future.
I was completely cut off in my self-beliefs!
And no matter how many times I may have redeemed myself by acts of virtue, the self judgement ALWAYS prevailed. Hence, no faith or surrender to God.
Food was my drug of choice.
I lived in emotional pain so deep that I would see a coupon for delivery pizza, order the pizza just because it was cheap, then proceed to eat the entire pizza behind closed doors to the point of passing out.
It was far too easy to put myself in a food coma and not have to deal with the world..seeking comfort in the disconnect of a junk food induced comatose.
I had zero value for my own life.
In fact, I remember begging God to take my life many times.
Instead…God took a stand FOR me. Loved me no matter what. And believed that I was perfect.
I could tell you stories of being on the brink multiple times that would send chills up one’s spine…and still, I had to die in 2012 to stop fighting against God’s love.
Just writing this is bringing me to tears. 😢
When you finally allow yourself to FEEL this kind of love, you NEVER want to go back.
Being in human form is one of the most limiting experiences we’ll ever have as spiritual beings. Mainly due to the constraints of the five senses. If we don’t see it, feel it, hear it, taste it or smell it, well then, it must not be real.
And yet…
Everything good in life is BEYOND these senses.
We focus on lack because we cannot observe abundance with our five senses, and so we become “realists” avidly fight to prove that what’s beyond cannot and must not exist.
The irony here is that, in order to truly know God on a level that is not of this world, we must embrace the sensory experience that IS not of this world. To seek comfort in Source means that we must learn to discern between quick fixes and divine love…
and choose accordingly.
We must learn to surrender into the knowing that EVERY aspect of life is a gift and celebrate it as such. Not just when it’s convenient or comfortable
It’s one thing to say that I am happy because God has blessed me with all these amazing people and things.
It’s another thing to say that I am happy because I choose to be.
These days, happiness is most definitely my top choice!
Unfortunately though, you’ll hear more people say “God is good,” when they get what they want and condemn God for taking something they’ve attached their happiness to away.
What if…
In the moments where we struggle to understand WHY things are happening, we leaned into the pain as a blessing? Instead of cursing God for taking our comfort away we can give thanks for the transformations about to occur.
We can choose to be happy despite the suffering.
Choose to be blissful through the struggle.
It’s our focus on the blessings that allow us permission to realize physical comfort is not always the answer. Taking comfort in God is fulfilling at a soul level, helping us to find the lesson, so we can learn and move on rather than masking temporarily and perpetuating the struggle longer through time.
Once we FIND the lesson…
we can LEARN the lesson…
and be done with the pattern.
Isn’t that a more joy-full and loving way to live?
What are you numbing out in your life? What methods are you using to mask the suffering? How can you lean into the pain in order to see the lesson in it and end the need to keep repeating the pattern?
About the author:
Alida is an Intuitive Life Strategist, student of comparative religions, and co-owner of Mind Soul Fit OC in Newport Beach, CA. Her coaching company, Ambassador for Goodness, hosts various workshops on mindfulness, spiritual entrepreneurship, intuitive eating, art therapy, and relationship success. This blog is also a podcast called Awakening Miracles and can be found on Anchor, Google Podcasts, Pocketcasts, Radio Public, Sticher and soon to be almost anywhere podcasts can be found!
