self mastery

 

I have been an entrepreneur for most of my life.  It was instilled in me as a kid.  We were poor and had very little money so at the young age of 10, my sister and I got a paper route.  We lived in Las Vegas and our route was close to our home.  We both had bikes and would get up at 4am fold papers and then stack them in our bags.  This was very hard work for two young girls and probably dangerous too.  But we were determined to make money.  After a few weeks of this, and on a particularly very cold morning, my sister dropped her papers on the sidewalk and said, “I quit.”  I begged her not to leave but to no avail.  I cried but picked up her papers and mine and finished the route.  I was determined to do what I had promised to do.  I continue to keep my word today.  If I make an agreement with you, I will fulfill whatever was agreed upon.

I really loved N Eldon Tanners talk on success gauged on self-mastery.    He quoted Da Vinci who said ““You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself.” “The height of a man’s success is gauged by his self-mastery, the depth of his failure by his self-abandonment. … And this law is the expression of eternal justice. He who cannot establish dominion over himself will have no dominion over others.”

I have often thought of that cold morning when left to deliver papers on my own and wondered if the lord accepted my offering. As I continue on my life’s journey, I have encountered many instances where I could have given up, but I had made a commitment and stuck with it. 

Jan Newman said

“Don’t ever be too busy to take a calling in the church. If you ever tell your Bishop “Hey I’ve got this new company and it’s a lot of work and I don’t think I can be the Scoutmaster… biggest mistake you’ll ever make. Because when you need the Lord’s help, he’ll know where your heart is and it won’t be on his side.”

I want the Lord on my side and hope and pray he accepts my offerings to Him.

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