Your Master

According to the Internet, Michael Jordan practiced basketball six hours a day. Sergei Rachmaninoff practiced piano for at least four hours a day, every day, until his death in 1943. Stephen King’s typical routine is to write for four hours straight every single day. Simone Biles typically trains for 6–7 hours per day at gymnastics. These people are considered to be among the greatest ever at their respective art or sport. But when it comes to how much time we spend each day practicing mindfulness and mastering ourselves, how much time do we actually dedicate to it? For many people, no time at all.

What if you were to practice being mindful all the time about the state of your own thoughts and emotions? Would mastering your own thoughts and emotions really be possible without practice? Would Michael Jordan have been as good as he was at basketball without practice? Of course not!

The problem is, it never even enters most people’s minds to even try to master their thoughts and emotions. But if you’re not the master of your emotions, then your emotions are a master over you! They will beat you down like a strong storm, wave after wave, making you toss and turn out of control—out of a state of peace. Out of a state of self-mastery.

Why should your own thoughts and emotions be a source of pain, suffering, and anxiety for you? If you are in control of yourself, then why don’t you choose happiness, peace, and joy instead? If you’re not feeling joy all the time, who is in control—you, or your emotions?

So today, be mindful. If you feel yourself becoming anxious or depressed, remember that you are in control of yourself, that you are the master of your emotions. Talk to yourself in a positive way, every moment of the day. Practice it with as much dedication as a professional artist or athlete would, until it becomes second nature to you, and you only think and feel positive, joyful thoughts.

Practice becoming a master of your own thoughts and emotions. Because if you don’t, they will become a master over you.

A Path to Happiness

A Path to Happiness

– Understanding your mind, your thoughts, and your will is essential in understanding yourself

– You are responsible for yourself. It is up to you and no one else what you think and how you feel at any given moment

– Know and understand that you have the power to experience and maintain joyful and peaceful thoughts all the time

– Observe your mind and thought processes

– Understand your mind and thought processes

– Decide what you want and why

– Decide a number of goals that you want more than anything else

– Set realistic goals in regards to your mental/emotional/spiritual self and work towards realizing those goals

– Incorporate your goals into a philosophy and practice it, using constant observation to filter everything in daily life (thoughts, emotions, experiences) through your philosophy and tools

– Learn the tool of “I want (place goal here) more than anything else”

– Find methods and techniques to help keep your mind clear, beautiful, and on track towards realizing your goals

– Take time to evaluate your progress, understanding that a seed doesn’t grow into a flower overnight, but remain open to the reality that there are times when certain goals and mind frames can materialize and solidify rapidly or even instantly, like the flick of a switch

– Take life one moment at a time, one thought at a time. You, and you alone, are responsible for the thoughts that occupy your mind at any given moment

– Continue to observe yourself, improve yourself, and practice your philosophy

– Share what you have learned with others