Who is a Mighty Person?

Years back, I was in the middle of taping a series of instructional videos. Each video was made up of a combination of martial arts drills, skills, teaching tips and a huddle discussion for kids. I had just finished the third video and was feeling great about the quality and content. Experience had shown me that in front of the camera, some days I “had it” and on others… not so much. This happened to be a day that I had it and there was only one more video to go. YES!!!

I had just finished discussing how “a mighty person is one who has control of their emotions and can make friends of their enemies,” when Sue, my producer, asked to speak with me. We stepped away from the crew and then she quietly told me that due to technical difficulties, we would have to reshoot the entire first three videos again. Instantly, a wave of indignation enveloped me. I thought to myself, "How could this happen? Why didn't you fix the problem after the first episode? Didn't you see how good those takes were?" I was livid and was just about to give a piece of my mind when it hit me… “Who is a mighty person?” If I really believed that a mighty person had control of their emotions, then this was a great chance to practice.

It also hit me that, not only would I look silly by getting upset after talking about the virtues of self-control, but if I tried to reshoot the former three videos in a less than empowered state, they wouldn't turn out very well. Besides, it was an honest mistake and I have certainly made my share of those.

So, I took a deep breath, gathered myself up and calmly told Sue, "No problem." We then shot all three of those videos in record time and they turned out quite well.

What struck me about this incident was that somehow, some way, on this day I was able override my initial inclination to become angry. If I could do that then, it stands to reason that I can do it again, perhaps even all the time, and so can you!

So, what do you say? Are you a mighty person?