Mastery before Mediocrity

To do something once may be impressive in the moment, but all that glory fades when you try to repeat a victory you didn’t prepare for. If you are untrained and manage to pull off something accidentally on purpose, only a fool would believe they are suddenly an expert. The same goes for how we manage our emotions. We are fools to think we’ve conquered anger because we reacted once without anger. We are fools to think we’ve conquered all our fears because we once acted with courage. We are capable of conquering whatever we choose to practice enough so it becomes a natural part of our daily performance. All else is luck. The ones we know that act with integrity, honesty, courage, humility, and compassion on a daily basis are ones that understand the patience of practice. They understand the importance of self-mastery over mass-mediocrity.