Command Your Fate

I had 2 experiences today that were inspiring, but in very distinct ways. I was cleaning out some clutter - we live very simply in a lovely little community, but sometimes the amount of stuff we bring in overwhelms the place. So I concentrated on the boxes and files from my old offices.

Just as I was finishing, I found a document in which myself and my coworkers had been maligned by a very inexperienced and self-serving manager. Why I kept it, I don't know. I felt myself become angry, just like I had when I first saw it months before. I sat and looked at it for a long moment. And then do you know what I did? I tore it to shreads. I rid myself of it, but I still felt the anger. I was inspired to find a way to overcome that feeling once and for all.

Then tonight we watched the film "Invictus" about the 1995 World Cup Rugby tourney in South Africa and the early days of Mandela's presidency. It wasn't until near the end of the film that its title hit me: Invictus was the poem that Mandela read in his cell each day of his 27 year imprisonment. One of the lines is, "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." Such a simple yet profound statement helped me to jetison the anger from my system that I had been harboring.

My anger is turned toward renewing my conviction that I am a great leader and teacher. I am intelligent and compassionate. My employees and students have experienced these qualities because I have shared myself with them. I feel sorry
for those whose jealousy and lack of collaborative spirit did not value me and the people I lead. For all of us I say, Invictus!

Peace,
Shelly