Inner Light

Learning self-mastery is the journey of learning how to take full responsibility over your life. Once you achieve self-mastery, you become the person in charge of your life. You are no longer a reactive victim of circumstances and your environment. You are a proactive co-creator of your life and manifestor of your dreams. I feel that there are four key principles that make up this particular path.

1) Commitment to Truth
A commitment to truth encompasses not only being honest with others, but also being honest with yourself. Being honest with yourself means identifying your strengths as well as your weaknesses. This principle also involves living with integrity by being consistent with your values and principles; in other words, walking your talk.

2) Cultivation of Awareness
Be aware of your current reality and how it fits with who you are and who you wish to be. Pay attention to the energies around you and decide if they positively or negatively impact your vision of where you’re going in your life. As you progress through various stages of growth, you should be constantly refining your self-image so that you know what your next step will be.

3) Connection to All
Realize that everyone and everything is connected, and that everything and everyone is connected to Spirit. Because you are part of the Whole, it is important that you grow to be the best person that you can be in order to contribute to the greater good. Nurture feelings of love and gratitude and discover how you can be of service. These are the things that will give you a sense of purpose and well-being.

4) Co-Creator of Your Life
Once you realize your strengths and weaknesses, become aware of your reality and your place in it, and understand that everything is connected, you will better understand that you are the co-creator of your life. You are the master of your emotions and your choices. Self-mastery is about making conscious, proactive decisions about your emotions and choices vs. unconscious, reactive decisions. You are affecting your environment rather than your environment affecting you.

When you start taking full responsibility for your life, you will find that you are more flexible with change and your energy levels are higher. You lose the helplessness that occurs when you’re in “victim” mode and allow life to happen to you rather than you happening to it. Being completely honest with yourself and the people around you eliminates the stress of trying to be someone you’re not. You will feel a greater sense of purpose and will achieve a more positive balance in all areas of your life.

As you learn to take personal responsibility over your life, one of the biggest lessons is emotional control. Like most people, you’ve probably gone through your life reacting to situations and your environment, rather than responding in a more proactive, responsible manner. It’s a subconscious reaction to say,

“That person makes me so mad!”
“This person makes me sad.”
“This person makes me feel so fulfilled.”
“That person makes me happy.”

But in fact, nobody can control your emotions except for you. By allowing someone else to “make” you feel a certain way, you’re in effect giving your power to them. There is always a choice in how to respond to situations. On the surface, being in a relationship where you feel that someone “completes” you or “fulfills” you may look like a wonderful thing. I’m not saying it isn’t, but I would challenge you to ask yourself, “Can I be complete or fulfilled without having to be in a relationship?” If the answer is no, then you are giving another person the power to control your happiness. Do you really want to let someone else be responsible for your joy?

Likewise, if you are confronted by a situation that elicits an immediate negative emotional response, take a step back and ask yourself,

“How else can I react to this?”
“WHY am I reacting like this?”
“Is there a better response?”

You and only you should be in charge of your emotions, whether they be positive or negative, because only you have the power to change them.