INVICTUS

I am the master of my fate
I am the captain of my soul
These are the last two lines from the popular poem, Invictus, by William Ernest Henley; and like many other popular quotes or poems, I’ve heard these lines a couple of times but never made anything out of it. Recently, I was watching this speech by Oprah at the Essence festival (I watch a lot of speeches) , and I had a light-bulb moment when I heard the quote this time.
“ I . am . the . master . of . my . fate
I . am . the . captain . of . my . soul ”
I am responsible!
For me, this is one of the lessons that I think has taken me the longest to learn/ come to an understanding of. At the surface, there is usually a knowing that every individual is responsible for their life, however, there’s always the tendency to put that responsibility on someone or something else – a partner, a friend, a job, parents, siblings, … etc. We find creative ways of shelving the responsibility to others, outsourcing our joy and expecting them to make us happy, forgetting that everyone is trying to figure it out for themselves and that at the end of the day – you are responsible.
Like a captain, we are responsible to steer our lives in the direction we would like it to go.
“You are the captain of your soul.”
I was listening to a podcast – The Dying Know the Secrets to a Good Life where Mitch Albom talked about the fact that a lot of us walk through our life like we are sleep-walking and I could totally get where that was coming from. The below quote described it perfectly for me:
Sleepwalkers – these are people who live their lives in an unconscious state. Being conscious is not about being physically awake. Many people are physically awake, yet living unconsciously. They are not fully aware of who they are, the larger context of life they are a part of, and their real purpose in life. (source- google)
I definitely think it’s a journey for all of us and we will consistently be a work in progress; however, like every other thing, I believe the first step is awareness; after which you can start taking steps from a place of awareness.
As you go into a new week, I hope you remember that you are responsible for the energy you surround yourself with and it is important to be able to preserve your energy for the things that really matter to you. I think this only works if you are clear on what matters to you, so figuring that out might be a good place to start – there is a lot of power in clarity.
*light-bulb moment: a moment of sudden realization, enlightenment, or inspiration.
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What I am currently listening to: The Future of Work Is Projects – So You’ve Got to Get Them Right. I loved listening to this HBR IdeaCast episode which was an interesting conversation about the importance of projects in organizations and the right way to structure resources around them.
What I am currently reading: I am still reading ‘A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle’ . In the book, Eckhart Tolle describes how our attachment to the ego creates the dysfunction that leads to anger, jealousy, and unhappiness, and shows readers how to awaken to a new state of consciousness and follow the path to a truly fulfilling existence.
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Wishing you a great week ❤️❤️
Love,
Nifemi