Mastery - Part 1

 Up until recently I had been finding myself reluctant to jump in and start blogging. Initially I had lots of excuses such as the Year of the Ox hasn't officially started yet, etc., etc. I did however start push ups, and sit ups and reading other team members blogs, but then I started to feel overwhelmed by the volume, the time commitment needed to read all the posts, and most of all the greatness I found in each post. 

I found myself starting to question my decision to become a member of the team again and continue my journey towards mastery. The ego works in mysterious ways and can be unpredictable. It can serve to boost you up or bring you down. My mind started to play it's games and tell stories. Stories that don't serve me in a positive way. Stories about all the hard work ahead, the extra anxiety and sacrifices etc. These stories completely left out any successes in past years, the rewards that come from failure, the ability to reflect and thus stretch time, how easy it can be to fit most of the requirements into a day and so much more. 

In order to move forward I needed something that would help me get started and help me to continue  while on this journey. This is where "Mastery" by Stuart Emery comes into play. Although I had not memorized "Mastery" when last on the team, I was familiar enough with the messaging to recognize it as a valuable tool. The 3rd paragraph and the line that states: "Develop compassion for yourself so that you can be in the presence of masters and grow from the experience." was applicable to what I was experiencing.

In January I started reading "Mastery" at least once per day and will continue to do so throughout the year. I think of it as a way to ground myself. Reminding myself everyday of why I've joined the team and that I am not alone in my journey. I know from previous years many team members wait too long and leave this requirement/goal until later in the year, thus loosing out on many of it's benefits. I don't want to just memorize "Mastery", I want to understand and embrace the concepts contained within those words. And whenever I'm feeling like I am not enough or overwhelmed I can read it over and over again to help nourish the seeds within. 

Namaste!