COSMOGONIA

"Men spend half of their time making chains and the other half carrying them." (Octave Mirabeau)  

Emotional self-regulation is the ability to respond to the ongoing demands of experience with the range of emotions 

in a manner that is socially tolerable and sufficiently flexible to permit spontaneous reactions as well as the ability to delay spontaneous reactions as needed.  We create those chains to be able to co-exist in our society but the demand might sometimes exceed the capability. We are invoking that necessity of restraint as a harbinger of happiness and this involves making oneself do something or keep at something though your own nature would rather be doing something else. 

As in the message that arises from the Devil tarot card which is that although the chains of our habits are real, they exist only because we have chosen them to, and there is no other barrier to our own personal happiness than ourselves. If we are truly committed to overcoming our inner demons, the routines and forces which restrict our spiritual growth, then we must summon the will to step out from the chains, understanding that the world is much bigger than the individual ego.