The Only Thing That Matters

Life has a reason and a purpose.
All people yearn to know what it is.
Most have not yet clearly understood
.

We have been told that humanity's
Basic Instinct is survival.
That is not our Basic Instinct at all
.

Copyright © 2012 by Neale Donald Walsch

Published in the United States by:
Emnin Books, 324 Wimer St.,
Ashland, OR 97520 • [email protected]

Distributed in the United States by:
Hay House, Inc.:
www.hayhouse.com
^®

Published and distributed in Australia by:
Hay House Australia Pty. Ltd.:
www.hayhouse.com.au
•
Published and distributed in the United Kingdom by:
Hay House UK, Ltd.:
www.hayhouse.co.uk
•
Published and distributed in the Republic of South Africa by:
Hay House
SA (Pty), Ltd.:
www.hayhouse.co.za
•
Distributed in Canada by:
Raincoast:
www.raincoast.com
•
Published in India by:
Hay House Publishers India:
www.hayhouse.co.in

Cover and interior design by: Frame25 Productions

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording; nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private use—other than for “fair use” as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews—without prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012945053

ISBN: 978-1-4019-4236-6

15    14    13    12    4    3    2    1
1st edition, October 2012

Printed in the United States of America

This book is dedicated to Em Claire, the American poet whose voice has brought an end to loneliness and a new level of feeling, insight, clarity, honesty, and beauty to thousands of people around the world. I am thankful for the gifts she has given to us all, and to me, in a special, life-changing, and heart-stopping way, as my dearest friend, my wife, and, truly, my Other.

Table of Contents

Part 1

  1: Your Soul Knows Exactly What It Is Doing

  2: Can You Believe This?

  3: It's Important That You Know That You
Know
What You Know

  4: You're About to Become an Author

Part 2

  5: Back to Basics

  6: Remembering Again

  7: Moving Past “Oh No!”

  8: Surprising News about Your Body and Your Mind

  9: Of Snowflakes and Trees

10: There's Even More to Remember

11: The Most Important Question of Your Life

12: A Complete Explanation of “Completion”

13: Evolution Never Stops

14: The Process, The Path, and The Purpose

15: How It All Works

16: Eliminating Life's Complexity

17: Putting It All Together

18: The Map

Part 3

19: Should One Really Spend a Lifetime Catering Only to One's Desire?

20: What The Path of the Soul Is Not

21: A Look At What One Desires and What One Does on The Path

22: Who Are You and Who Am I?

23: A Dare, from the Author to the Author

24: Taking the Dare

25: A Demonstration of Free Will

26: It Is Time for the Struggle to Be Over

27: An Enormous Power Has Just Been Placed in Your Hands

28: Enlarging the Challenge—
Voluntarily

29: Can Emotions Be Selected?

30: Knowing About the Tool and Using It Are Two Different Things

31: The Biggest Choice You Will Ever Make

32: Another Gift, Another Tool

33: How High Is the Bar?

34: A Final Tool

35: Mental Emptiness

36: Sustaining the Connection Between the Mind and the Soul

37: The First Gift

38: A Bit More About Basic Instinct

39: One Last Question, One Last Answer

40: Let Your Soul Talk to You

Afterword

Addendum

Contact Points

1
Your Soul Knows Exactly What It Is Doing

D
EAR
C
OMPANION ON THE
J
OURNEY:
It is wonderful that you have come here.

There is something you wish to know and something you wish to do, and Life understands this. That is why you are reading this.

Here is what you wish to know …

98% of the world's people
are spending 98% of their time
on things that don't matter
.

You have been part of that 98%. Now you are no longer. From this day forward you choose to spend your time on The Only Thing That Matters. The question is,
what is that?

Here is what you wish to do …

Find your answer
to that question
.

This requires a deep exploration of the Self. You are in the right place for such an important and remarkable undertaking. Trust that. If you weren't in the right place to find your answer, you would not be here. Do not think you have come to this book by chance.

Do not think that.

Think this:
My Soul knows exactly what it is doing
.

Also, think this:
My Soul already knows what really matters
.

So it is not a question of “finding” that answer, it is a question of
remembering
. It is not a process of discovery, it is a process of recovery. This data does not have to be
researched
, it merely has to be
retrieved
.

Let's begin here.

Something very unusual is occurring on this planet right now. You have no doubt noticed it. It may be producing a more than normal amount of challenge and disjointedness in your life, and perhaps even some major upheavals. You are probably noticing it in the lives of others as well.

For a while you may have thought that this was all just your mind playing tricks on you; that things were not really happening any differently, and that you're just a little tired, a little overcommitted, a little oversensitive.

But now, as each day presents itself with obstacles mounting and challenges increasing and more and more personal issues coming up to be faced and healed, it is apparent that all of this is not an illusion, not an exaggeration. So you may be asking: “Why is all this happening? What am I doing wrong?”

And here's the answer …

You're doing
nothing
wrong.

AND … there
is
something very unusual going on right now in your life, and all over this planet.

Call it an energy shift, call it a cosmic cycle, call it the overhaul of humanity, or whatever you will, but what's occurring on Earth right now is, you can be sure, very real. It's touching lives emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Some lives more than others, but none are immune.

This experience is global in scope. Talk to people. Just ask them. Talk to people anywhere, everywhere. They'll tell you: Yes, life has been tumultuous lately. More than usual. More than normal. For some, more than ever.

Now there's a danger here, and that danger is not in what is happening, but in how you may
construe
what is happening. The danger is that you will view what's going on as “bad,” and then react from utter frustration or fear, or even anger (which is Fear Announced), doing exactly the opposite of what would serve you.