Cooperation does not require agreement, and it does not require “like.” It is not necessary for you to like a manifestation or an expression to cooperate with it.
Cooperation does not require that you like or agree with an expression or a manifestation.
In this, if you are genuinely holding your attention upon you and being aware of you and what you are doing, this allows you to move in the direction of acceptance of difference.
Each of you incorporate you own individual truths. Your individual truths are beliefs that you have generated into absolutes. Every individual incorporates their own individual truths. Your truths are not bad. They are your guidelines of how you express yourself and how you direct yourself, how you direct your behavior. They are also strongly associated with your preferences, which are also not bad.
In acceptance of your own truths, you recognize that these are your guidelines but that they are also not necessarily applicable to other individuals. Other individuals incorporate their own truths, which may be different. Their truths are equally as real as your truths are with you, and they are equally as valued as your truths are with you. Therefore, no truths are right or wrong. They are merely your individual guidelines of how you direct yourself and how you direct your behavior and how you generate your choices and what motivates many of your choices.
In compromising your truths, your guidelines, you discount yourself, which also damages your trust of yourself, for it moves you into a direction of continuously questioning yourself. That also moves you into a direction of comparing, and comparing is a strong companion to compromise and is equally as destructive and discounting.
You may be incorporating a relationship with another individual or interaction with other individuals and be expressing a cooperative energy and not opposing of the other individual, and even supportive with the other individual, and not agree. But in that, you recognize that what the other individual is expressing or choosing or doing is what THEY are choosing, not what you are choosing.
Elias was asked in Session 18521 about a special business – a strip show – and the related feelings about it: „With my husband, if he opens a strip club, I feel like I would be compromising how I feel in my beliefs to make peace with the whole family. Should I have a bigger picture and allow myself to open up my beliefs in that area, or do I stick with what I believe right now?“
I shall express to you an exercise that I suggest you allow yourself to engage for a time framework of, in the least, two of your weeks.
In this, each time throughout each of your days that you notice yourself hesitating or compromising in any manner, whether it be merely with yourself, whether it be with your partner, whether it be with your children, whether it be with any other individual, each time you notice that you are hesitating in any interaction, preventing yourself from expressing you or compromising in any manner, notice — do not discount yourself — merely acknowledge that you are noticing. Do not compound by discounting yourself further. As you acknowledge that you noticed, place a flower in a vase. Incorporate a carefully chosen vase, one that is very pleasing to you. Let me express to you, at the close of each of your days, you shall most probably incorporate quite a bouquet.
Now; this is purposeful, my friend, for in generating this type of an exercise, you are not merely becoming much more aware of how frequently you generate these actions, but you are also acknowledging yourself and offering yourself a physical expression of appreciation with the flowers, an expression of beauty which is another acknowledgment of yourself, which interrupts the automatic response of continuously discounting yourself.
The ultimate cooperation is acceptance and choice!
