You Will Be Master Of Your Emotions

The tides advance; the tides recede. Winter goes and summer comes. Summer wanes and the cold increases. The sun rises; the sun sets. The moon is full; the moon is black. The birds arrive; the birds depart. Flowers bloom; flowers fade. Seeds are sown; harvests are reaped. All nature is a circle of moods and you are a part of nature and so, like the tides, your moods will rise; your moods will fall.

It is one of nature’s tricks, little understood, that each day you awaken with moods that have changed from yesterday. Yesterday’s joy will become today’s sadness; yet today’s sadness will grow into tomorrow’s joy. Inside your heart is a wheel, constantly turning from sadness to joy, from exultation to depression, from happiness to melancholy, yet you will remember that as today’s dead flower carries the seed of tomorrow’s bloom, so does today’s sadness carry the seed of tomorrow’s joy.

And how will you master these emotions so that each day will be productive? If your mood is right, the day will be a failure. Trees and plants depend on the weather to flourish but you make your own weather, yea you transport it with you.

And how will you master your emotions so that every day is a happy day and a productive one? You will learn this secret of the ages: “Weak are he who permits his thoughts to control his action; strong is he who forces his actions to control his thoughts.” Each day, when you awaken, you will follow this plan of battle before you are captured by the forces of sadness, self-pity and failure –

If you fell depressed you can sing.
If you feel sad you can laugh.
If you feel ill you can double your exercise.
If you feel fear you can plunge ahead.
If you feel inferior you can wear new garments.
If you feel uncertain you can raise your voice.
If you feel poverty you can think of wealth to come.
If you feel incompetent you can remember past success.
If you feel insignificant you can remember your goals.

Henceforth, you will know that only those with inferior ability can always be at their best and you are not inferior. There will be days when you must constantly struggle against forces which would tear you down. Those such as despair and sadness are simple to recognize but there are others which approach with a smile and the hand of friendship and they can also destroy you. Against them, you must never relinquish control –

If you become overconfident you can recall your failures.
If you overindulge you can think of past hungers.
If you feel complacency you can remember your competition.
If you enjoy moments of greatness you can remember moments of shame.
If you feel all-powerful you can try to top the wind.
If you attain great wealth you can remember one unfed mouth.
If you become overly proud you can remember a moment of weakness.
If you feel your skill is unmatched you can look at the stars.

Henceforth you can recognize and identify the mystery of moods in all mankind and in yourself. From this moment you prepared to control whatever personality awakes in yourself each day. You will master you moods through positive action and when you master your moods you will control your destiny. You will become master of yourself. You will become a great man.