This idea, like the preceding one, can be used with any person, situation or event you think is causing you pain. Apply it specifically to whatever you believe is the cause of your upset, using the description of the feeling in whatever term seems accurate to you. The upset may seem to be fear, worry, depression, anxiety, anger, hatred, jealousy, or any number of forms, all of which will be perceived as different. This is not true. However, until you learn that form does not matter, each form becomes a proper subject for the exercises for the day. Applying the same idea to each of them separately is the first step in ultimately recognizing they are all the same.
When using the idea for today for a specific perceived cause of an upset in any form, use both the name of the form in which you see the upset, and the cause which you ascribe to it.
For example:
I am not angry at for the reason I think.
I am not afraid of for the reason I think.
But again, this should not be substituted for practice periods in which you first search your mind for sourcesof upset in which you believe, and forms of upset which you think result.
In these exercises, more than in the preceding ones, you may find it hard to be indiscriminate, and to avoid giving greater weight to some subjects than to others. It might help to precede the exercises with the statement:
There are no small upsets.
They are all equally disturbing to my peace of mind.
Then examine your mind for whatever is distressing you, regardless of how much or how little you think it is doing so.
You may also find yourself less willing to apply today's idea to some perceived sources of upset than to others. If this occurs, think first of this: I cannot keep this form of upset and let the others go. For the purposes of these exercises, then, I will regard them all as the same.
Then search your mind for no more than a minute or so, and try to identify a number of different forms of upset that are disturbing you, regardless of the relative importance you may give them.
Apply the idea for today to each of them, using the name of both the source of the upset as you perceive it, and of the feelings as you experience it.
Further examples are:
I am not worried about for the reason I think.
I am not depressed about for the reason I think.
Three or four times during the day is enough.
✨ Summary & practice
The true source of your upsets.
Here is a lesson that touches something very concrete in your daily life. Have you ever wondered why a simple comment can ruin your day, or why you feel sad without knowing exactly why? Lesson 5 offers you a revolutionary key: you are never upset for the reason you think. All your upsets, fear, worry, anger, are in reality identical. Only their form differs. And the cause you assign to them is never the real cause.
The central idea is that you consistently misunderstand the origin of your suffering. You believe that a certain person or situation is responsible for how you feel, but the Course tells you the cause lies elsewhere. The exercise is to take each upset and apply the idea: 'I am not angry at ___ for the reason I think.' The Course emphasizes a crucial point: there are no small upsets. A tiny irritation disturbs your peace of mind just as much as great anger.
This lesson builds on and extends the previous one. In Lesson 4, you learned that your thoughts mean nothing. Now you apply that same logic to the thoughts that trouble you. Lesson 6 will reinforce this idea by saying you are upset because you see something that isn’t there. Together, these lessons build a new way of understanding your emotions. They are not reactions to the world, but projections from your own mind.
To practice today, take a few minutes to examine your mind. Look for the sources of upset you believe you have, in all their forms. Then apply the idea to each, naming precisely the form and the perceived cause. And remember: there are no small upsets. Treat them all the same way.
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