I am not a body. I am free. For I remain as God created me.
1. W-190 «I choose the Joy of God instead of pain».
²Pain is an idea of mine.
³It is not a Thought of God, but something I have thought apart from Him and from His Will.
⁴His Will for His beloved Son is joy, and only joy.
⁵And this is what I choose instead of what I had conceived.I
⁴I am not a body.
⁵I am free.
⁶For I remain as God created me.
I Do not treat the cause—heal the effect.
Pain always has a good excuse: an unexpected bill, a loss, a disappointment. But that is not what matters. Do not try to convince yourself that “it shouldn’t hurt.” Look at the effect—your discomfort—and ask yourself only one question: Do I want to keep feeling this way?
That is the real choice. You cannot change what happens outside, but you can stop choosing suffering as your response. The joy of God is not a reward for favorable circumstances; it is an inner decision, and it is always available.
Train your mind to remember it. Ask for it to come. For your true power does not lie in controlling the world, but in recognizing that your state of mind is the only thing that is real. Everything else is a dream, and you can awaken.
How could I ever have thought to contradict God?
Why did I do it?