Week Ten landed differently for me. Not as a revelation, but as a correction, a reminder of something I already know, yet still forget in daily practice.

Haanel writes:

The great error of the present day is the idea that man has to originate the intelligence whereby the Infinite can proceed to bring about a specific purpose or result. Charles Haanel, The Master Key System

That sentence stopped me. Because this is where so much unnecessary struggle begins within me. I’m the doer, right? My actions get the things done! Cause and effect.

I’ve been conditioned to believe it’s my job to figure everything out – to force outcomes, make decisions, to basically manufacture certainty.

This, to me, is ego in its most subtle form. Ego not as arrogance, but as “edging God out.” The belief that we must improve upon the intelligence that already animates life itself. But I get in the way of it.

When I look honestly, most of my stress has come from this assumption: that if I don’t control the process, everything will fall apart. Yet again and again, experience shows the opposite. When I interfere less, things often unfold with more coherence.

When I trust more deeply, the path becomes clearer – not all at once, but step by step. I remember this, then something doesn’t go quite as planned or desired so I step in, take over and probably make more of a mess.

This lesson reinforces a core truth – intelligence is not something I have to generate; it already exists. My role is just to align with it. To quiet the impulse to force, rush, or override what is trying to emerge naturally.

Be in this moment. Understanding polarity – as when I’m not in harmony with the creative principles of nature, as Haanel points out, “the dynamo stops.”

Week 10 isn’t about passivity. It’s about right action – action that arises from clarity rather than anxiety. From alignment rather than effort. From listening instead of controlling. More stillness, less agitated doing.

I’m reminded of the teaching also in the Bhagavat Gita about the “Right use of vital force.”

This perspective also brings relief to the nervous system. I know innately that most (if not all?) of my tension comes from carrying responsibilities that were never meant to be mine.

This week asks a sober question:
Where am I still assuming I know better than the intelligence that created me?

Letting go of that assumption may be one of the most practical forms of mastery there is.

Still working on it! (hmm…. Working on it? Sounds like more effort where its not needed and contributing to the muddying up….)