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Lesson 190: ”I choose the joy of God instead of pain.”

Reframe: I choose joy and alignment over fear and suffering.

Suggested Practice:

From the Introduction to Lessons 181-200:

”Our next few lessons make a special point of firming up your willingness to make your weak commitment strong; your scattered goals blend into one intent. ²You are not asked for total dedication all the time as yet. ³But you are asked to practice now in order to attain the sense of peace such unified commitment will bestow, if only intermittently. … And so we start our journey beyond words by concentrating first on what impedes your progress still. …⁴So we now attempt to go past all defenses for a little while each day. ⁵No more than this is asked, because no more than this is needed. ⁶It will be enough to guarantee the rest will come.”

Do two 15-minutes practices today.

Ponder this today from the Lesson today…

”Lay down your arms, and come without defense into the quiet place where Heaven’s peace holds all things still at last.²Lay down all thoughts of danger and of fear. ³Let no attack enter with you. ⁴Lay down the cruel sword of judgment that you hold against your throat, and put aside the withering assaults with which you seek to hide your holiness.”

“Here will you understand there is no pain. ²Here does the joy of God belong to you. ³This is the day when it is given you to realize the lesson that contains all of salvation’s power. ⁴It is this: Pain is illusion; joy, reality. ⁵Pain is but sleep; joy is awakening. ⁶Pain is deception; joy alone is truth.” (ACIM, W-190.9:1–10:6)

View timelapse of the coloring of today’s mandala
on My YouTube Channel:

https://youtu.be/_SIfdd0pZWA?is=I1JmOU_GVqSEDPLc

Message

From the Lesson:

“It is your thoughts alone that cause you pain. ²Nothing external to your mind can hurt or injure you in any way. ³There is no cause beyond yourself that can reach down and bring oppression. ⁴No one but yourself affects you. ⁵There is nothing in the world that has the power to make you ill or sad, or weak or frail. ⁶But it is you who have the power to dominate all things you see by merely recognizing what you are.” (ACIM, W-190.5:1-8)

This one hit home today. The idea that my thoughts ALONE cause me pain registered strongly, even though I’ve been studying the Course off and on since the 90s. Sometimes it takes 1,001 times to hear or read something before it moves the conscious awareness dial.

When I first read this lesson I thought, “Well, of course I would choose the joy of God instead of pain.” Then I used my coloring session as my practice time—sometimes that’s when I gain the greatest insights.

While coloring I realized: no, I wouldn’t choose the joy of God, at least not yet. Wait…what? Then I remembered how this morning I told myself “I’m always annoyed about something.” When I caught that, it occurred to me that’s an important piece of information.

Let me share this last paragraph from the Lesson before I continue:

”And so again we make the only choice that ever can be made; we choose between illusions and the truth, or pain and joy, or hell and Heaven.” (ACIM, W-190.11:1-2)

Pain is a choice. Without truly acknowledging it until now—no judgment—I have been, as default, choosing pain over joy. Why? Because early conditioning set up a belief that life is mostly painful—which the Course would say is just a thought, and therefore not real. And without truly noticing it until now, perpetuating that belief via my thoughts is contributing to my pain, not the circumstances that created that belief.

That doesn’t mean I’ve been miserable all my life. I have consciously chosen joy and peace—more so in recent years. What I’m saying—and now acknowledging—is that my default mode of being, when I don’t pay attention, is pain. It’s like a low rumbling hum beneath the surface of my being. Ever present. Ever ready to pounce and say “See? I told you I was miserable.”

With this new insight, I get to change that by creating a new habit of remembering I have a choice.

Bring on the “I choose joy” post-it notes!

“It’s possible to live in a state of uninterrupted deep peace. It’s called enlightenment.”
— “The Course in Miracles Experiment” by Pam Grout

Blessings & Peace,

Maureen,
The Mandala Lady

transforming soul whispers into mandalas & channeled messages
for clarity, peace, and joy

 About the 2026 Mandalas of the Day — ▶️ A Note About A Course in Miracles