2. The tides advance; the tides recede. Winter goes and summer comes. Summer wanes and the cold increases. The sun rises; the sun sets. The moon is full; the moon is black. The birds arrive; the birds depart. Flowers bloom; flowers fade. Seeds are sown; harvests are reaped. All nature is a circle of moods and I am a part of nature and so, like the tides, my moods will rise; my moods will fall.
3. Today I will be master of my emotions.
4. It is one of nature’s tricks, little understood, that each day I awaken with moods that have changed from yesterday. Yesterday’s joy will become today’s sadness; yesterday’s sadness will grow into tomorrow’s joy. Inside me is a wheel, constantly turning from sadness to joy, from exultation to depression, from happiness to melancholy. Like the flowers, today’s full bloom of joy will fade and wither into despondency, yet I will remember that as today’s dead flower carries the seed of tomorrow’s bloom so, too, does today’s sadness carry the seed of tomorrow’s joy.
5. Today I will be master of my emotions.
6. And how will I master these emotions so that each day will be productive? For unless my mood is right the day will be a failure. Trees and plants depend on the weather to flourish but I make my own weather, yea I transport it with me. If I bring rain and gloom and darkness and pessimism to my customers then they will react with rain and gloom and darkness and pessimism and they will purchase naught. If I bring joy and enthusiasm and brightness and laughter to my customers they will react with joy and enthusiasm and brightness and laughter and my weather will produce a harvest of sales and a granary of gold for me.
7. Today I will be master of my emotions.
8. And how will I master my emotions so that every day is a happy day, and a productive one? I will learn this secret of the ages: Weak is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions; strong is he who forces his actions to control his thoughts. Each day, when I awaken, I will follow this plan of battle before I am captured by the forces of sadness, self-pity and failure.
9. If I feel depressed I will sing.
10. If I feel sad I will laugh.
11. If I feel ill I will double my labor.
12. If I feel fear I will plunge ahead.
13. If I feel inferior I will wear new garments.
14. If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice.
15. If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come.
16. If I feel incompetent I will remember past success.
17. If I feel insignificant I will remember my goals.
18. Today I will be master of my emotions.
19. Henceforth, I will know that only those with inferior ability can always be at their best, and I am not inferior. There will be days when I must IN THE WORLD constantly struggle against forces which would tear me down. Those such as despair and sadness are simple to recognize but there are others which approach with a smile and the hand of friendship and they can also destroy me. Against them, too, I must never relinquish control.
20. If I become overconfident I will recall my failures.
21. If I overindulge I will think of past hungers.