More on Self-Discipline

July 30, 2004

I’ve mentioned it before, but I’ve been thinking a lot about discipline. You may have noticed The Spirit of the Disciplines has been on my nightstand quite a few weeks. Dallas Willard is a philosopher, which I’m not, so I’ve been “chewing.” You may have also noticed my most recent read, Letters to a Young Gymnast by Nadia Comaneci. Though different in genre, they both address the issue of discipline.

I guess the reason I’m so interested in discipline is because I want more of it. Funny, I say it as though there’s some hidden key to obtaining discipline but in reality, it’s just a matter of doing it. There’s absolutely nothing difficult about the concept. It is hard to endure the pain or discomfort of training your mind, body or soul. It’s also hard to be patient during the time it takes to reach your goals. But generally speaking, if you have a definite goal in mind, it’s relatively simple to figure out how to get there.

I know my goals so why do I feel like I’m not making any progress toward attaining them? I admit it’d be nice to reach the goal without having to train, although if I’m not willing to put in the effort, my “goals” are probably not really goals but just good ideas.

There’s another factor I don’t particularly like to deal with either–loneliness. In order to be disciplined, I must be willing to be lonely. It’s easy to go along with the crowd, but if I want to be “set apart” (which happens to be the definition of holy), I must be and live differently.

As Nadia Comaneci puts it,

Friend, no one ever accomplishes your dreams for you, regardless of tears, fits, or any other means of manipulation. They can give you ideas and direction, but in the end, you have to do it alone. You must figure out your own destination and the best route to get there because no one else knows the way.

Source: Nadia Comaneci, Letters to a Young Gymnast (New York: Basic Books, 2004), p. 6.

Category: Deep Thoughts

Comments

Leave a Reply