A Course in Miracles (ACIM) clearly points out how perception and choice are very closely linked together. As long as we perceive error, the tendency is to continue to choose error through judgment thereby making error more real. We are the source choosing perceptions, placing judgment on corresponding results, and finally judging those results as being real as well. All of this leads us back to perception and choice and to start the cycle once again.

As you perceive, you judge and project; and as you judge and project, you perceive back. Having perceived the judgments and projections back with you, you will now judge those and project them outward until you perceive the results back. The ego knows no other way. It is a continuous judgmental cycle until you choose to break it; and yes, there is a way to do just that. There is one obvious choice off the merry-go-round, and it is so simple you will scratch your head in wonder you had not thought of it before now.

Choice remains unsettling because so long as you make choices that further the error, or take you deeper into the illusion, it seems as though you are merely making choices between the lessor of two evils. That's because you are only choosing between the sides of the wrong mind. The ego has a "wrong" and "right" side but neither is the true Right Mind of the Holy Spirit. If there was ever a New Year's resolution worth keeping, it would be: Stop judging and turn them over to the Holy Spirit for correction instead.

The Tiny Mad Idea:

The original separation is considered a "tiny mad idea" wherein you thought acim app you were separated from source. This is also called "the error" and is the original choice for judgment of the ego. Already down that road in the mind, it becomes another layer each time you judge the consequences, or corresponding effect, from the error as cause. What this means is every time you judge what you see or what is happening in the world, and you choose to believe the ego about it, you are choosing the error as cause once again. Corresponding effects show up which reinforce your belief in error.

These judgments further divide out the split mind instead of returning it to peace. Hence, this is why is seems like you are choosing between the lessor of two evils with neither one really being "less". The error has not occurred and only seems real because of your choice of internal Teacher. Choosing the ego is like choosing a revolving door with only one exit.

ACIM says there is no order of difficultly in miracles and that means there is no order of difficulty in choices. One is exactly the same as the next, handled in precisely the same manner. Every problem is equal because they all stem from the same cause. You only think one is harder because of your belief and attachment to it as being more real than another.

The Decision Maker:

The fastest way to turn choice from an unsettling phenomena to one of illusion is to use your decision maker, or observer, to choose differently. Actually, if you wanted to make a judgment against the ego, there is only one appropriate choice to make: Choose to use your decision maker to choose against the ego and in favor of the Holy Spirit. This has such enormous power when harnessed and used to choose instead for the truth.

Using the decision maker can be difficult to understand without practical application. It is an action-oriented mechanism of using, or choosing. That really is its big secret and now you know it. You have to do the work of choosing. Reading these ideas is not enough. Practical application is everything. Simply be willing to learn how. You will make mistakes, but so what? We all do. Try again.

Think of the ego like a coin system in a can. Every time you listen to and believe an ego judgment, you put a coin in the can for that subject matter because you chose it. Keep on doing this, and you will fill the can until overflowing. Step back into neutral, which is the decision maker, and be willing to turn over those judgments to the Right Mind for correction, and you actually spend a coin from the can instead.