Step Eighty

Ripples

Step 80. I Can Only Practice.

You can only practice. Life is practice. We are merely redirecting your practice so that it serves you and so that it may serve others. You practice all the time, repetitively, over and over. You practice confusion, you practice judgment, you practice projection of blame, you practice guilt, you practice disassociation and you practice inconsistency. You strengthen your judgments by continuing to exert them. You strengthen your uncertainties by continuing to emphasize them. You practice your self-hatred by continuing to influence it.

If you look at your life objectively but for a moment, you will see that your whole life is practice. Therefore, you will practice regardless of whether you have a curriculum for your benefit or not. Therefore, we give the curriculum which you may now practice. It will replace the practices that have confused and belittled you, that have conflicted you and that have led you into error and into danger. We give you a greater practice so you will not practice those things which undermine your value and your certainty.

In your two meditation practice periods today, repeat the statement that you can only practice, and then practice stillness and receptivity. Strengthen your practice, and you will confirm what we are saying. You can only practice. Therefore, practice for good.

Practice 80: Two 30-minute practice periods.

Here you will find the entire book free for download http://stepstoknowledge.com/

Here you will find pointers for getting started if this is your first encounter with this practice: Taking the Steps to Knowledge.

February 25, 2013 Round One: I like what this Step says about “redirecting your practice so that it serves you and so that it may serve others.” “So that it serves” me, goes without saying, this is certainly something to strive for, instead of being my own worst enemy and hindering myself at every step. However, I am still unsure about how my practice may serve others, since it seems that so many people are just not paying attention, but why should they? Furthermore, why should they be paying attention to me?

I take great comfort at these times of uncertainty in something I came across recently and hope it is okay to share:

“Your light is seen, your heart is known, your soul is cherished by more people than you might imagine. If you knew how many others have been touched in wonderful ways by you, you would be astonished. If you knew how many people feel so much for you, you would be shocked. You are far more wonderful than you think you are. Rest with that. Rest easy with that. Breathe again. You are doing fine. More than fine. Better than fine. You’re doin’ great. So relax. And love yourself today.”

― Neale Donald Walsch

Robert (another student of the New Message wrote a superb response): "Our practice serves us in ways that seem obvious and some ways that you will not realize now. But, our practice serves others in keeping Knowledge alive in the universe. It allows us to help move the great plan of the Creator forward a little more, and that serves everyone living in Separation.

"So, it is no small thing that you contribute to others by continuing your practice in the Way of Knowledge. And if you are successful and contribute your gifts here with those others you are destined to work with, you will have carried out the Will of Heaven on earth. And that is something wonderful that will ripple through this reality and beyond."

October 2, 2014 Round Two: "We give you a greater practice so you will not practice those things which undermine your value and your certainty."

This Step tells me that I practice, unwittingly or not, that my whole life is practice, but not always productive practice. I also practice things that are detrimental to me – judgment, self-hatred, confusion, doubt, and this Step is guiding me in a beneficial direction by giving me something productive to practice.

As I practiced today, one thing that came to mind and seemed very important was reminding myself that my practice is my own affair and I cannot impose my own experience on others. I am reminded of the wisdom of not judging other people and not interfering in their process (as Tiela shared, see my post on Step 76. Today I will not judge another), no matter how much I wish to change another person’s way of thinking and behaving. I can only share what I have without being imposing. When I see what I believe to be other people’s errors, I can only continue with my own practice and share my gifts, thus keeping Knowledge alive in the world. This is the particular wisdom I glean from this Step today.

P.S. I am still loving how when I look for a picture for my photo quote I find gems of wisdom in other people’s blogs. Today I found The Wacky World of G. Michael Vasey. There is a link to the specific post “Ripples” that goes with the picture under my photo quote.

September 15, 2018 Round Three: Again the sentence "We give you a greater practice so you will not practice those things which undermine your value and your certainty" speaks to me. I was talking to Elspeth this morning, hearing all about her trip to Scotland and telling her the things going on with me. I shared with her about Ursula and am happy I am not allowing what she said to undermine my value and my certainty. I am practicing tolerance, understanding and benevolence. I do not think I can go far wrong with that.

I was unable to my first early 30-minute practice. I hope to find time during the day.

I tried again from 13.38 - 14.08 when I lay down to rest. I maybe did 10 mins before I drifted off. Later in the day I listened to a recording from Hilary. She talked about the difficulty of finding the time and place to practice stillness, but that we do not need to stick so religiously to the practices that we hamper our progress. I am happy that I am integrating Steps into my life, I am thinking about my Step for the day throughout the day and being with it. I feel this serves me well and I am happy with my practice.