I like discipline a lot. I think its good for us. It keeps us sane and ordered.
I really believe the most successful people in life exert discipline on a daily basis in some form or other.
Discipline is a vital part of a healthy lifestyle and without it, the world around us would be chaos. Imagine if no-one had any discipline at all to do anything. We’d all be a mess.
Discipline brings stability and structure into a person’s life. It teaches us to be responsible and respectful. In my humble opinion, it is a form of self respect.
Discipline is incredibly useful on the journey of self development. It helps us create a better understanding of ourselves and with that comes better self esteem. And it starts and ends with discipline.
When I first got clean over 15 years ago, I learnt that discipline was everything.
I learnt that I had to set an alarm to get to a meeting. I learnt I had to attend a meeting three times a day to stay clean. I learnt that I had to brush my teeth and my hair every day.
I know many of you who know me wouldn’t believe that sentence but that’s the truth.
I had to learn discipline and little by little, day by day, I got well.
Discipline is all well and good but it can also have a very negative affect on people’s lives if it is used in a way to self harm or self destruct. By this I mean using discipline as a whip to ‘better yourself to perfection’ which of course we all know by now, does not exist.
Discipline can be dressed up as addiction if you’re not careful.
- Addicted to exercise to get the perfect body (but I’m disciplined I go to the gym every day )
- Addicted to work (but I cant let my team down I have to be at work for 3 hours extra every night)
- Addicted to the perfect body (but I can’t eat this or that or that or this)
- Addicted to being perfect ( I have to do this to get there and I cant stop until I do even if I am at breaking point, my health is at risk and my friends are worried about me)
Today I want you to have a little think about where in your life, if anywhere, discipline may have turned into disaster (!) and you are over exerting your discipline into something that may not be healthy.
It’s likely something will pop into your mind and when it does just go gentle. Ask yourself how you can be a little kinder to yourself, where you can relax the reigns a little or where you can go a little slower.
Sometimes changing one tiny thing can lead to massive change.
Slowly slowly lovely reader
Love,
Jacqueline x