It was the third day of our vacation, and the third day that I had been having coughing spells. I realized I was having the same conversation with my husband that I had been having for three days, complaining about how a friend had treated me. My friend had needed assistance with a project, but when I offered to help, she not only rejected my offer but later accepted someone else’s. That was hard to swallow! 

That day on vacation, however, I saw that I didn’t need to clear my throat—I needed to clear my thought. 

As a Christian Scientist, I am used to healing difficulties through prayer, which requires changing my thinking rather than changing something physical. As I began to pray, I saw that what needed healing was the belief that my way was the right one (self-righteousness) and that I had a right to complain (self-justification). Both states of thought result from belief in a mind and selfhood apart from God, who is the only source of good and the one, infinite Mind, governing all.