Mastery is an attitude, not a set of skills. You can collect skill sets and become really good at something, even be a master of something like Science or Arts or your chosen field with practice and time. But to be truly a Master - not about something or of something but simply a Master - you must tame that most unruly domain, the inner self. That begins with the decision to proactively control how you feel on the inside - your own emotional and spiritual state.
Maintaining this attitude requires us only to remember to maintain it. That makes it sound easy but there are people and situations coming up all the time that challenge our sense of calm and our self-control. It's the time of challenge when it's most important to remember that we determine these things for ourselves. That's also when it's hardest.
Some think they can benefit by throwing us off our game, by taking energy or things from others, as if the universe only had limited blessings for us all. It's too bad they don't get it, and that they create barriers for us sometimes. But we don't need to be suspicious or hostile to offset this, we just need that mastery our our own self. We hold the power to choose how we feel even when we're protecting ourselves from loss or harm in the world. And we find that we can lock our doors with love in our hearts.
Some challenges come from circumstances, not people. Random events can fail to serve us or get in our way, and they don't come from any specific person or thing. This means there's nothing to get mad at, that our reactions are completely a matter of choice. If this sounds like a burden of responsibility, try to see it as a joyful freedom of choice. We are free to choose a masterful reaction, which can take any form at all.
It can even include anger and still be masterful if we choose it deliberately and if it serves our purpose. A bit of well placed fire can be very powerful if it's our choice and not a blind reflex. We do not seek a zombie-like calm at all costs, merely a full ownership of our own responses, including our hot buttons. Push them whenever you want to, but push them yourself and stay in charge.
The look of mastery will vary by person, but it will have some common themes. We can afford to be kinder to others because we have a sense of peace within ourselves. We can develop a deeper sense of connection, to ourselves and others, through sense and spirit, when we're in charge of our own internal authority.
One helpful result of this attitude is a clear inner voice that can come out freely as we choose our inner feelings on purpose. We become free to choose not only the feelings but also our thoughts too, and to focus our energies more completely, to target them more willfully. We become able to trust that voice from within as it comes more and more directly from our true self, less and less subject to the strategies of others.
This is not done by shutting people out. In fact, as we connect more fully with our own inner domain we become able to connect more fully anywhere. We can afford to be closer, more open to others precisely because we're managing our own inner world, taking that power into ourselves and feeling our own strength. We can engage more freely because there's less risk.
We can enhance this attitude within ourselves with some very simple steps. Affirmations and intentions are very powerful tools and we can begin using them right now. Simply affirming the attitude is a great start, it reminds us that we have the capacity within ourselves to choose how we feel at any time. Remembering to exercise this is the most important part because the simplicity of choice is so powerful. So we could use affirmations like these:
- I am truly grateful for the ability to choose how I feel inside, regardless of conditions, people or outside events. Whether I feel peaceful, energetic, confident, blissful, calm, sad or even combative, I can choose these states at any time to support my chosen purposes.
- I am grateful that I can choose these purposes and set my goals for myself. I travel my own chosen path and I am exactly where I have aimed myself at all times. I am continually mapping out my next steps with a sense of freedom which is exhilarating.
- It feels powerful to choose my own internal attitude and to continually exercise this power in every moment. I'm grateful for the tools that are there for the taking, for the practical results that can be mine by simply choosing them.
- And I'm grateful for the growing awareness that these simple choices are so helpful.
Use these affirmations, rewrite them for yourself, say them out loud regularly and the power of mastery will become a growing force in your life. This is powerful stuff and it will help you in ways none of us can foresee.
