Self Mastery

Often times we find ourselves in situations that call for our decision making skills. From what clothes to wear before you leave your house in the morning, to what you will have for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner, to what you plan to execute as your day unfolds. Opportunities to make decisions pop up every now and then. Many factors would influence the kind of decisions we make. Self mastery is one of these factors; it determines whether we make decisions based on logic, our emotions or our experiences.

So you wake up in the morning and even before you open those lazy eyes, you stretch and yawn as hard as your mouth can take. You reminisce what transpired in the night. You then realize that the night was short yet you feel more exhausted than when you slept (and the night had no activity whatsoever, you just slept). The moment your semi-awake brain is up and running, you start thinking what you need to do first, then what follows. You then convince yourself to betray that warm duvet that did nothing but shelter you from the cold, and decide to get your feet on the floor. Another yawn and stretch. Then you probably, if not definitely, head to the washroom and do your thing. You wash your hands as well as your face. By now, you are fully awake and have already set your mind on the run through of events that will transpire in that chilly morning. You are faced with a dilemma though; should I make breakfast first or hit the showers first? Your hungry tummy gives a rumbling shout to your brain: dude, breakfast!! So you decide to give heed to your stomach and make breakfast. Its 7:07AM. You woke up at 7.01 after struggling with your alarm all the way from 6.50 AM. You then hurriedly take breakfast because you need to beat that traffic jam and make it to work by 8 AM. Just one hour into your day and you have made a 1001 choices. They may seem to be petty decisions but they will surely affect the rest of your day. 

The decisions we make bear consequences; either positive or negative. I have come to realize that these decisions are products of self mastery. The strength of one's character determines the quality and soundness of the decisions they make. Leonardo da Vinci said "One can have no smaller or greater mastery than the mastery of self." Self mastery would enable you to realize who you are, your purpose in life, your passions, potentials, gifts and skills. Soon as you discover all these, you will better placed in life to make decisions that would shape your life in the manner that you want it shaped. It is imperative to know what areas to improve/changes in your life, what positive impacts the changes would cause, the repercussions that would result in failure to implement the changes and how different your life would be once you implement the changes. 

Self mastery is a process. In fact, even at old age you will be surprised at the decisions you make or the mistakes you commit deliberately or unknowingly. Human beings are filled mysteries that can be unraveled a day a time on an individual basis. Self mastery is therefore lifelong but highly significant. The sooner one masters themselves, the wiser the decisions they influence and the lives they shape. "The fearful seek to serve themselves by mastering the world, while the fearless seek to serve the world by mastering themselves." Eric Michael Leventhal.