Choose to Take the Journey

There are 2 kinds of people: those who rule over their emotions, and those who are ruled by them. Being part of the latter group does not guarantee failure, but being part of the former does guarantee success.

Here’s the scenario. A high school boy has a crush on a high school girl. He takes a chance and asks her out. Because he’s not her type, or she still thinks boys have the cooties, or any infinite number of equally arbitrary reasons, she turns him down. Eventually, when his heart’s memory of rejection fades behind his heart’s vision of hope, he takes a chance with someone new. But his confidence is still shaken from his first experience. He acts hesitant. Timid. Fearful. And it ruins his ability to connect to the second girl. A second rejection causes him to throw down his sword and pick up a shield. Though he will inevitably try his luck throughout his life, he is not the same man. He stops taking risks, always playing it safe, and never really chasing after victory with an open heart. He has lost the warrior spirit inside himself because he has allowed his emotions to conquer him.

What if the first girl had accepted? Surely, he would have felt a shot of confidence. Suppose they don’t work out as a couple. Still, his confidence from his first success may be enough to attract the interest of a second girl, and so on. He becomes bolder with time and he is even able to brush off rejection in the future because his mind carries a track record of success, a memory trail of being desirable. So you see, a person can very easily become a loverboy or a shy guy because of 1 or 2 accidental life experiences. Not only is this true in the dating game, but also in the game of life. The lifelong scholar who believes in his intellect because of a single well-timed compliment as a child. The perpetual down-and-outer who made a habit of pessimism when his parents divorced. It may seem as though early life experiences can sound the death knell to your love life or grant you a free ticket to career success, but what these people have in common is that their actions are dictated by their emotions.

If you instead commit to being someone who rules over their emotions, you will get the job done, always. You won’t get it done because you are riding a wave of confidence. You won’t not get it done because you are drowning in a sea of dejectedness. You will get it done, come hell or high water. Even if you only slept 5 hours. Even if you still have work to do. Even you are overwhelmed by a never-ending onslaught of projects and obligations. Even if your entire life comes crashing down all at once and no one would dare say anything to you if you were to give up, you will still get it done. You really can quit smoking forever. Lose that weight and keep it off. Start a new career, even in this economy. Be a role model to others.

Just as failure spawns failure, success begets success. There will be times when you feel your life spiraling out of control, but all it takes is a single success, a single victory to keep the battle from being lost. You will achieve this success because you will not allow yourself to be ruled by your emotions. You will rule over them by doing whatever it takes, even if you don’t feel like it.