Lesson 004: ”These thoughts do not mean anything. They are like the things I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place].”
AI Reframe: The thoughts crossing my mind don’t contain innate meaning.
Suggested Exercise: three to four times today, take about a minute to notice your thoughts without judgment or analysis. Apply today’s lesson to these thoughts:
This thought about ______________ does not mean anything. It’s like the things I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this place]. (ie: This thought about the weather does not mean anything. It’s like the things I see in this room.)
My take on it: “They” say we have, on average, 40,000 thoughts a day. Today The Course wants us to notice them for about a minute at a time, a couple of times during the day. Not to react to them nor judge them but to let these thoughts know (from wherever they’re coming from) that we see them and that they don’t mean anything. They are neither good nor bad. They just are.
I have caught myself on many occasions, having rapid fire thoughts and reacting to each one in that moment. It creates such craziness that I feel like I’m a ball in a pinball machine…and as a result nothing gets done and become overly stressed.
For instance I’ll have a thought to call someone. I head towards my and another thought pops in telling me: they don’t want to hear from you, you should put a load of wash in first.
So I head to where my laundry is and notice that I left the light on in the bathroom. I go in to turn off the light and see myself in the mirror and have the thought: what a mess, I need to brush my hair.
So I pick up my brush and then have the thought: I have some new headbands that I haven’t used yet, I should go get one.
So I put down the brush, head into my room to pick out a headband and see my unmade bed and have the thought: what a slob, I should make the bed before I do anything else.
This is probably the point where I finally “wake up” and ask myself: wait, what was it I initially wanted to do ? Oh yeah, I need to make that call. In a span of about five minutes I started and stopped several actions without actually doing any of them. That’s how chaotic and out-of-control my thoughts get most days…actually, it’s not my thoughts that are chaotic…it’s my REACTION to those thoughts!
I took a minute just now to do the exercise for the first time today. Three thoughts came in almost immediately: “I hope what I’m writing is okay”, “Why bother”, and “I wonder what the next lesson is about”. I applied the lesson to each one of these. Interestingly, after a couple more times of applying this lesson, my mind went quiet…just for a few seconds but it was clearly noticeable—and it was wonderful. More of that please.
Essentially, if my thoughts don’t mean anything, then I don’t have to blindly react to any one of them. Just as I finished writing that sentence, a small collage painting I created fell off my dresser—for no apparent/obvious reason. The painting is called “balance”. What do you think that means ? My thought about “what that means” does not mean anything. 😁
“Believe me, it’s extremely liberating to realize that the running commentary that dominates my consciousness is not who I really am.”
— “The Course in Miracles Experiment” by Pam Grout
Blessings & Peace,
Maureen,
The Mandala Lady
transforming soul whispers into mandalas and
channeled messages for clarity, peace, and love
▶️ About the 2026 Mandalas of the Day — ▶️ A Note About A Course in Miracles
Mandala of the Day 