As I finished my first warmup exercise, and was moving on to sky reaches, my phone rang.
Looking down at my Apple Watch, I saw my wife was calling.
It was barely 6 o’clock. Too early to just be chatting.
“Uh oh. This can’t be good.”
With trepidation, I pressed the green button under her picture.
"Hey, sweetheart. What's going on?“
"You forgot to pack my headset."
Crap.
A Sorry Excuse for a Husband
My wife Jennifer works from home 3 days a week. That means she had to drive to the office twice a week - typically Monday and Tuesday.
So on Monday mornings, it's become my job to pack up her computer while she gets dressed and ready for work.
Most times, I execute this task flawlessly. But some days I crash and burn, failing in spectacular fashion.
Like today.
"That's the most important thing to remember. Now I have to go borrow one. It'll be fine. But it's a real pain".
There's no way! But as I cracked the door of my memory banks, and peeked inside, I saw she was right.
Dammit.
And then an hour later, a text.
”Well, after three trips downstairs, I finally have a working headset." (The "no thanks to you" clearly implied)
“Okay,” I thought, "This is a prime candidate for revision."
The Pruning Shears
For it is magic, this pruning shears of revision. It really is not only the achievement of objectives, but if you do it daily, it will awaken in you the spirit of Jesus, which is continual forgiveness of sin.
Neville Goddard
Now I know you've done this. At least once. If not multiple times today!
You highlight a block of text, work that took a day, or days, to complete, intending to copy it to another window. And then you accidentally hit the space bar - and it's gone!
But then you remember- Cmd-Z (Ctl-Z for my Windows users - I love you too!). And presto! It's all back. And you breathe a sigh of relief.
And when this has happened, I’ll bet you caught yourself thinking, "I wish I had this in real life!”
Or even worse, you start typing a letter to your child's teacher, and then 9 paragraphs in, without any warning, the page kicks out.
And there you are, staring in disbelief at the button which says "Send Me an Email". And you are like "Where is my auto-save?!" ( This has also happened to me on multiple occasions while trying to post on Substack Notes. Not that I am complaining! :)
Well, I've got good news for you!
You do have this superpower.
It’s called revision.
The Weeds in Your Garden
Having slept, weeds have appeared in the garden and the weeds are revealing themselves by the conditions and the circumstances of life. For your garden is always projecting itself on the screen of space, and you can see by looking carefully at your world what you allow to grow in the garden of God.
Neville
Neville Goddard was a huge believer in revision's power to create life as you desire it to be.
He talked about it in many lectures and books. Of how it has the power to transform. But few have heard of it. Or believe it could be as powerful as it is.
Simply put, revision is the disciplined practice of looking back over the events of the day and consciously rewriting the script, replacing the bad with the good - changing what you don't want for what you do want.
We tend to see the past as fixed and unchangeable. Having immutable consequences that extend into our future, leaving no room for hope of something better.
Trapping us in our paradigm and producing more of the same.
But what Neville, and all the great teachers, have taught us is that the past is an illusion. Only existing in our minds.
And if the past is truly an illusion, it must be plastic. Infinitely malleable, changeable by the same power that created it!
And by changing it we can create any future we desire!
isn't that a fantastic and wonderful thought?!
The Four R’s of Revision
The process of revision is so simple that a child can learn it. Even though it may take a lifetime to master, don't let that dissuade you. If I can do it so can you.
1. Review
Review the Day in your mind. Do this at the end of the day - before or upon retiring to your bed.
Go over the day’s events - from waking up until that moment - what went well, and what didn't.
Maybe a phone conversation with a family member deteriorated into an argument.
Maybe the deli counter at Publix sliced your cheese too thick or Taco Bell gave you hot sauce instead of fire. (Purely hypothetical - That's never happened to us :)
Or maybe no one even looked at the post that you spent three days writing and revising!
Whatever it was take note of it in preparation for the next step.
2. Revise
Now rewrite the script, substituting better outcomes, and better events.
You ended the conversation by saying "I love you" to your sister.
The cheese you ordered was sliced to precisely 27.53 millimeters.
Your post got 50 likes and a comment from your favorite writer (I’m talking to you- Mitch Horowitz).
Go crazy! It's your imagination-no one else's.
3. Re-enact
Now that your script is written it must be played out. Relax in a comfortable chair, or lie down. Close your eyes, and picture the entire drama on the screen of your mind - exactly as you want it to go.
But- this is crucial - don't be in the audience, watching the play unfold upon a giant stage. You must be a participant, seeing the action around you.
Replay it over and over on the screen of your mind until it takes on the FEELING of being real. Until it takes on the tones of reality.
Once that happens, you know you have succeeded in your goal.
4. Rest
This is important. And a step that many people miss.
Once you feel the reality of the revision, Let Go.
When The Bible talks about the Sabbath, and keeping it holy, it has nothing to do with a particular day of the week. And all the controversy over which day of the week it should be is silly.
The Sabbath is simply a reminder to let go.
Let go of control. Let the universe flow. Let yourself enter harmony with it.
Once the work of mind is done, (the only real work there is) all that is left is to rest, ceding all control to God to create in reality what was before only imagined.
This is Prayer. This is Revision.
A Bunch of Hot Air?
Now this might sound ridiculous. It probably does sound ridiculous!
And you might ask me “How could this possibly work? How can this actually change my past?”
To which I would tell you - I doubted it too - until I tried it.
So don’t take my word for it. Try it for yourself. Try to disprove it. Do it faithfully and see if by experiment it does what I tell you.
I promise that if you are faithful to the process, you will feel like a great weight has been lifted off your shoulders, as you are released from guilt, and feel the power of forgiveness.
If it doesn’t work, feel free to ridicule me and tell others I’m a fraud and should never be allowed to write anything again!
But if I’m right, and you experience transformation, please share with the world the release you have experienced.
Believe me - it needs it.
Thanks for reading!
If you're an empty nester, or a soon-to-be one - like me, and want to create a real business with your writing -one that fills your pockets and feeds your soul, I hope you'll subscribe.
I’ll provide all the wisdom and encouragement you need as we walk this spiritual path of success - together!
Peace, Love, and a virtual hug
Aaron
Ever Wish Your Life Had an Undo Button?