Sherry Stirling Fernandez - Life Mastery

Life Mastery

Personal Progression Toward
an Infinite Potential

Sherry Stirling Fernandez

Copyright 2021 Sherry Stirling Fernandez.

All Rights Reserved. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author/publisher.

ISBN: 978-1-951503-41-3 (Hardcover)

ISBN: 978-1-951503-42-0 (Paperback)

Dedication

To Christopher, Merry, Andrew, Katie, Sarah, and Summer
my six marvelous children who helped me understand
the infinite potential of a human being.

Each of them is my everything.

Contents

Introduction

In 1990, collective farming was dismantled in Vietnam, and for the first time, Vietnamese families were able to farm their own land. Unfortunately, it wasnt all good news. They had lost farming support systems from the Soviet Union, and typhoons had been relentless. Without government subsidies to feed their families, 65% of children under the age of five were suffering from malnutrition. Save the Children, a humanitarian organization for children, sent Jerry Sternin to Vietnam to find a solution. Sternin did not speak Vietnamese, he had no funding, and little government support. The situation was overwhelming, but his solution was brilliant.

Sternin searched for and found families where the children were thriving rather than starving, even though they had no more financial means than the other villagers. He visited those families at mealtimes to see what they did differently. He discovered that the mothers of the thriving children were gathering tiny shrimps, crabs, and snails from the rice paddies and cooking them, along with sweet potato greens, into their childrens food. While this was not a common custom in Vietnam, adding these items gave the children vital nutrition.

Sternin had found a sustainable solution to the plague of malnutrition, and it was within reach of every family. He could have chosen to play the hero by using his expert status to teach the villagers how to save their children. Instead, Sternin did something much wiserhe recognized the real experts were the Vietnamese mothers who had already found a way to nourish their children and had been practicingcertain principles with success. Sternin recruited and organized the mothers of the thriving children to teach those who had not yet discovered how to do it on their own. The mothers met in local huts and cooked together. Vietnamese mothers became authorities as they taught what they knew to other mothers, and those other mothers then became authorities as well. In village after village, these mothers taught each other how to reduce malnutrition and provide better nutrition to their children.

Those mothers in Vietnam did not need a degree in nutrition to be authorities. Their successful living by certain principles made them experts among their peers. Like those Vietnamese mothers, my own authority does not come from expert status, a degree, or courses I have taken, but from a lifetime of learning and practicing certain principles with success. The success derived from applying those principles is as available as shrimps and sweet potato greens were to Vietnamese mothers in 1990.

A lifetime of learning, practicing, refining, and teaching certain skills has given me the privilege of being a role model for those who follow. Willie Nelson sings, I have a couple of years on you, babe, thats all. My advantage is having a couple more years of practice, thats all. As you attain success from applying these principles, you also have an obligation to share them, and as you do, you will become an authority in your circle of influence. You might even say to someone, someday, I have a couple of years on you, thats all. At least, that is how it works in the song.

Part I
Why

The great fire of 1666 leveled London. The world-famous architect, Christopher Wren, was commissioned to rebuild St Pauls Cathedral. There is an oft-repeated story about a day in 1671 when Wren observed three bricklayers. Wren asked them, What are you doing? to which the first bricklayer replied, Im a bricklayer. Im working hard laying bricks to feed my family. The second bricklayer responded, Im a builder. Im building a wall. But the third bricklayer, the most passionate and committed of the group, said, Im a cathedral builder. Im building a great cathedral to the Almighty.

Questions such as What is your why? or advice like Start with why are trendy right now. I like this kind of conversation because knowing the why behind any decision refines the commitment to that decision. That is why Friedrich Nietzsche said, He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. Knowing your why is the critical first step in figuring out how to achieve the goals that excite you and create a life where you thrive rather than just survive. When you know your why, you will find the courage to take the risks you will need to take, stay motivated when adversity strikes, and maintain a clear sense of purpose. Doing so will enable you to live a life that exceeds your dreams.

Like the bricklayers, each of us is building something that has the potential to be spectacular and leave an enduring legacy. We are building a life. The life we are building is our own masterpiece on the only canvas we have. The quality of your masterpiece is determined by your why. What is your why? It is your own particular passions, desires, dreams, life mission, and the people you love.

My husband is a great letter writer. He has a way of expressing his love for people in writing that makes any letter you get from him a treasure. After he wrote a letter to one of our granddaughters, Lilly, who was twelve at the time, he received a letter back from her in response. Of the many comments I have received from people whose lives I have been privileged to touch, none has been more poignant to me than this one from Lilly, for it is the legacy we leave to those closest to us that matters most. Here is an excerpt from Lillys letter:

When I grow up and get to you and Nonnas age I want to be just like you guys. I want to travel, have the perfect family, be with the one I love all the time, and be retired. And its not just me, all the girl cousins would just talk and talk about how we wanted to be just like you and Nonna. You guys have the perfect life and you started with nothing but each other. I think thats pretty amazing! Thats why you are one of my biggest role models.

Every individual will have their own reasons for personal development, but there are also some universal whys. There are also tools to focus and strengthen your why. This is important because real change doesnt come cheaply. It takes a strong why to be willing to pay the price for change and the success that follows. Lilly wants the best life has to offer, and with every fiber of my being, I want her to have it. My why is all the Lillys of this world.

1
Happiness

THE PURPOSE OF LIFE IS TO BE HAPPY

Indeed, man wishes to be happy even when he lives as to make happiness impossible.

~ St. Augustine ~

Since the beginning of recorded time, scores of philosophers, mystics, poets, and academics have contemplated the purpose of mankind. They ask, What is the purpose of life? Does mankind have a universal desire? Generally, these thinkers come to the same conclusion Aristotle reached when he declared, Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence. One of the great sages of our era, the Dalai Lama, put it succinctly: I believe that the very purpose of life is to be happy. If you are a parent, you have come to the same conclusion as the great thinkers, for you have undoubtedly said, at some point, All I want for my children is for them to be happy. Why would we choose happiness for our children if we didnt think it was the greatest gift life has to offer and what we most want for ourselves? The purpose of life is to be happy, and happiness is the universal desire of mankind.