Developing Self-Control is Good Thing

Self-Control

Knowing when to do something and doing it just at the right time and in the right extent is a very good way of mastering one’s self

We have self-control to the degree that we make the

decisions. To affect the outcome of anything, we

must control conflict at the point of decision

making. Two sides of an argument often

involve the intellectual versus the emotional.

Reason and emotion are not antagonists. What seems

like a struggle is a struggle between two opposing

ideas or values, one of which, automatic and

unconscious, manifests itself in the form of a feeling.

In the end, we do battle only with ourselves.

Once we understand this and focus our energy on

what we can do to control our lives …. we begin

to gain important insights into how life works. Man masters nature not by force but by understanding.

It is part of our pedagogy to teach the operations

of thinking, feeling, and willing so that they may be

made conscious. For if we do not know the difference

between an emotion and a thought, we will know very

little …. We need to understand the components

[of emotions] at work …. in order to free their hold.

A clear understanding of negative emotions dismisses them.

We must become acquainted with our emotional

household; we must see our feelings as they actually

are, not as we assume they are. This breaks their hypnotic and damaging hold on us.

To be conscious that you are ignorant is a great

step to knowledge.

The strong man is the one who is able to intercept

at will the communication between the senses and

the mind.

He who would be useful, strong, and happy, must

cease to be a passive receptacle for the negative,

beggarly, and impure streams of thought; and as a

wise householder commands his servants and invites

his guests, so must he learn to command his desires,

and to say, with authority, what thoughts he shall

admit into the mansion of his soul.