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The Nine Day Class
An Exercise in Attainment
Lesson 8 - Taking the initiative
The world does not wait for you. Life requires you to make the first move. When you choose to move first, you have the initiative. You choose how, when and where things will get done. The initiative puts you in charge. Initiative gives you impetus which enhances your strengths. A person exercising his initiative triples his impact on the situation. He is the man on the spot and the one who sets the tone for all that follows.
Many people waft through life, coasting about like a balloon tossed on the wind. They go hither and yon wherever things take them. These folks are content to let themselves be guided by the tides of current events and the whims of others. They do not choose a destination, but end up wherever they are taken. Such people only get what tide and caprice will offer them
How much better to take a stand and make a deliberate choice! The one who makes the first move also sets the course. He chooses where he wants to go, and how he wants to get there. Life may not offer him the exact route he selects, Nonetheless, by exercising his initiative he can select his way from those that are available. He chooses, rather than passively taking whatever comes.
A large part of initiative is time. The active person is the one who gets there early. He gets there at the beginning. For him, too late is rarely heard. History shows us many examples of success being lost by being late. There are examples whence coming last meant a total loss. On the other hand, there are many examples of success coming by working in a timely fashion.
For Pagans, this brings up the problem of Pagan time. There are people who make a habit of being late, and excuse it by calling it Pagan time. There is nothing Pagan about it! The real name is Loser Time. People who take a whenever...whatever attitude are selling themselves short. Replace Pagan Time with On Time. Keep the initiative by getting there for the beginning. People who live on Pagan Time tend to become poor Pagans, indeed. The world has no regard for Whenever.... Those who succeed are those who use time to their advantage. That is a lot better than people who use Pagan Time as an excuse.
What holds people back from Initiative? Fear. People fear making mistakes. They are afraid of making wrong choices or taking inappropriate action. Do not be afraid to make a mistake. Understand that the cost of living successfully includes the chance of making mistakes. It is a simple equation: Fear your mistakes and you do nothing. Accept that mistakes may be made, and do everything. You can rest assured that if mistakes happen, they will be few and far between. Besides, your enhanced strengths and initiative give you the power to remedy your mistakes.
Be strong. Be deliberate about how you live. Make the choice and take the lead!
Exercise: make a small flyer-size poster that reads: Do one thing today that you would normally postpone until tomorrow. Post it in a conspicuous place, such as your refrigerator or cupboard. Let it remind you to do the thing that you would rather postpone. Make yourself do it. This exercise improves your initiative, deflates procrastination and instills mental discipline. Make it part of your way of life.
Meditation: Think of time as something you use. Ponder the clock and the movement of the stars. Know that these are not forces to which you are subject, but things for you to use. Time is your ally. As you ponder this, remind yourself that you have the initiative. Know within yourself that you decide. With Time as your ally, you have the freedom to choose, to set things in motion. See yourself as active rather than reactive. Ponder yourself as a doer.
Thought for the Day: I choose, I move, I do. When I move first, the world moves with me at the pace of my choosing.