You would be surprised how difficult many think choice can be, and how afraid they are of the consequences of a choice. It's a common belief to think that by not choosing, you will avoid the results. Choice is necessary in the illusion and you are deciding between one or the other all the time so there is no avoidance of choice. It is making a decision between two or more possibilities. The reason you have difficulty, or are afraid to choose, is because you do not understand what choosing for salvation in this world involves.

Avoidance or "not choosing" is choosing because you made a choice to not choose. This means you chose the ego's interpretation, or judgment, as being real because it wasn't a choice for correction of the mind. Thus, you will get it again. The consequences of "not choosing" is for things to remain the acim same and leaves fate in the hands of an ego judgmental thought system as the split mind of cause; and those effects, well, they're not pretty.

The metaphysics behind choice goes back to the original separation when you heard the ego's judgment and chose to listen to it. This judgment banished part of the mind from Knowledge and makes an illusion of choice appear necessary because, now, there is the judgment of the ego, or Knowledge (Heaven and Oneness), to choose between.

Choice is, therefore, unsettling or fearful because you think it is necessary. You are afraid to choose because all judgment (choice) is based on sin, guilt and fear as its root perceptions and while here, there are also choices between two things that seem like choosing between the lessor of two evils.

No one likes to employ choice if they think they will be hurt by the consequences. Instead, we practice avoidance. So now, we will consider what choice really means according to A Course in Miracles (ACIM).

What You Are Choosing Between:

What you are really choosing all the time is which interpretation of events you want to believe and have become real. In the metaphysics of the split mind, one side is the ego wrong mind (error) and the other is the Holy Spirit Right Mind (correction, forgiveness).

According to the mind you choose as your cause, you will see the corresponding effect. This is basic cause and effect from ACIM. Choosing from ego always results in fear since that is the basis of judgment. Choosing the Right Mind results in correction, forgiveness, love, peace, joy, happiness and True Perception and returns the mind to its natural state.

This is the real choice being to be made. It may seem like a choice between two things here (judgments) and picking the lessor of two evils; but you have this third option of the other side of the split mind.

How to Choose:

This is where ACIM makes your life simple. Keeping in mind the metaphysics that choice is an illusion, but you must use it while here in this world, the Course says that all you really need to do to "choose" is to choose to give up judgment. So instead of responding to the ego's choices, you hand over the judgments to the Right Mind for correction (forgiveness) because you don't want them anymore. That is all the Course is asking you to do. To change your internal Teacher is that easy.

Each time you make the choice not to choose the judgments of the ego, and give those judgments to the one place that can correct the mind (forgiveness), you have made a choice with Holy consequences. You don't have to do anything else except keep on relinquishing judgments. The Holy Spirit takes care of the rest.

A tremendous burden gets lifted from you because you are not choosing between the lessor of two evils but rather to relinquish judgment as cause; and when you choose the Holy Spirit as cause, the effect is peace, even while you are still here in this world.

Choices in this World:

Yes, you do have to choose where to live, what job to take and if you want to be married, etc., as the basis of all choice in the ego world is having to choose one thing or another. All the time, you are using perception for your choices. How you perceive (with which mind) you will judge; and how you judge you will choose and project.

The ego analyzes with judgment and sees how to choose with more judgments. The Holy Spirit Right Mind simply takes your choice to relinquish the ego's judgment and does not analyze anything. That is choosing correction (forgiveness). In Oneness, there is nothing to choose between and nothing to analyze.

To make choices in this world that result in more peace and love, keep in mind that ACIM simply asks you to use your decision maker to turn over the judgments of the ego to the Holy Spirit for correction. You end up perceiving with True Perception which choice in this world will lead to peace.

If you want to be right, you can choose the ego's judgments and pick between the lessor of judgmental evils and remain in fear. However, if you want to be happy and at peace, consider choosing True Perception which is also correction and forgiveness.

Why You Should Choose in Favor of Correction (Forgiveness):

The ego's point is to keep everyone separate, in conflict, chaos and general havoc. Not choosing says you believe the fear of the ego's judgment and you are trying to pretend that you are not afraid. It's better to own up to being afraid and make the choice to hand over that judgment (fear) to the Holy Spirit Right Mind for correction (forgiveness). That is a choice to change things as you are relinquishing judgments (and fear) instead of choosing between them.

You are not making the same kind of "one or the other" choice but rather a choice to end judgments and fear. Ultimately, this will end the need for choice because the last decision is the choice to go home and end separation. Remember in Knowledge, there is no choice because all is Oneness.

The Decision Maker:

Correction (forgiveness) is the Holy Spirit, God's solution when a portion of the mind banished itself from knowledge by choosing the "tiny mad idea. " Everything, every answer, you need is there and waiting for you to choose to hear. There is no agenda, no hidden reasons, no deceitful purpose and no fear. There is nothing required of you except to do the work of choosing to hand the judgments for correction so you can "see" you way back to the Right Mind, True Perception and Knowledge.

Rather than avoidance, choose to take action because you don't want things to stay the same in your life. The decision maker in your mind is your ability to choose but is a mechanism with gears needing your action to work. You have to use it for anything to happen differently or change in your life. Practical application is everything. Since you use it all the time to make judgments, it only feels foreign now because you are using it to choose against the false reality and in favor of the truth. This is, however, the only real choice to be made.

It also seems impossible for it to be so simple but this is where you are going to have to be willing to learn and see if it works. All healing is in the mind and you use correction of the mind to heal yourself. A Course in Miracles is mind training to restore your mind to what is already there (Knowledge). You rejected it; but now are accepting it once again as being who you really are.

Resource: Delilah Jaemes at [http://spiritualguidancecoach.com]. Spiritual guidance coaching and counseling using the metaphysical and psychotherapy principles of A Course in Miracles. My goal is to point you in the right direction for a change of internal Teacher. Delilah is available via email, Skype and phone; and she conducts spiritual retreats in both Hawaii and Italy.