You're not unhappy for the reason you think you are...

Core Teaching from A Course In Miracles

I remember hearing this teaching the first time. And it stopped me dead in my tracks.

I was fuming at a really nasty situation, where someone wanted to inflict the maximum emotional damage they could on me.

I was talking a mindful, long walk in my local park (watching my breath, feeling everything arising in my mind and body) and the phrase suddenly popped into my mind from my higher self!

I realised that yes, this situation and person was causing me pain but it wasn’t the whole picture.

I had to go deeper…. much deeper.

There were many troubling things about the situation and I had also not fully forgiven myself for my own role in what had suddenly and dramatically unfolded.

Wounding

We all carry some form of wounding, from our past. No matter how good your life is, every Soul faces challenges here on Earth sooner or later. It is inbuilt into the very structure of our existence (the body gets old and dies, for example).

However, whenever someone touches a core wound, it can feel raw and we lash out at that person for the perceived hurt.

We may ‘attack the mirror’. In fact, we often do!

The ego is quick to blame, and rarely takes self-responsibility, instead falling into the role of victim, or becoming judge, jury) and executioner.

If we probe more deeply, there may be other life aspects that are also weighing down on us, aggravating the original wound.

Of course, the source of our pain also needs addressing, and that begins and ends in the human mind.

How to use this teaching in your own life

“You're not unhappy for the reason you think you are...”

This simple, radical insight can be used with any person, situation or event that is causing you pain. Or that you ‘think’ is causing you pain. (Did that trigger you?)

Maybe the person, situation or event is causing you pain, or harm, or both.

However, the teaching invites you to go deeply into yourself and see what the underlying trigger really is.