I have been thinking about discipline lately. My father-in-law mentioned that my brother-in-law was a very disciplined person. I don't recall his wasting any time, ever, although he may have. But mostly he spent his time working on things that were important to him, and accomplished a lot.
On the other side of the equation, he told the story of someone he knew who had been very undisciplined about treating his diabetes. The diabetic was chewed out by his doctor.
In my life, I feel like I don't have very much discipline. I'm constantly getting distracted by trivialities, or time wasters, and much of the time I can't make progress on some of the things I want to do. This is unsatisfying, and I'd like to figure out how to change it.
I think discipline comes in two parts. First, you must figure out what is important, and then, you need to make a system to actually do the important things. Sometimes what is important becomes critical and obvious: make these lifestyle changes or you will die. Other times it comes from our heart, as with people who need to write, or dance, or fly, or any other passion that they cannot live without. But I think that much of the time we must study and consider what is important.
I think that Alec spent time studying God's will and the people around him, as well as his heart, to decide what was important to him. I have known people for whom everything is important. They are exhausting to be around, and sometimes end up not accomplishing anything that is really important. You really can't spend time on everything. Some things have to fall by the wayside, and as long as those are the less important things it is OK.
Sometimes I try to make lists of things to do for the weekend, but those are substitutes for a more considered list of what to spend my time on---I don't really have a more considered set of guiding principles that would make it easier to decide what to do and what to let go. (OK, I have two principles: keep the family clothed and fed. But beyond that, it is a bit of a mess). Also, not knowing what is important can lead to indecision which can lead to paralysis and (in my case) phone games or other time and energy wasters.
The second part of discipline is having some sort of system or support to get the important things done. The truth of the matter is, I believe that willpower alone cannot get the job done, or at least not long term. We need things like habits, check lists, schedules, systems of friends to encourage us and keep us accountable... I'm sure there are more. I believe that the Holy Spirit can prod us and change our hearts, although I'm not sure exactly what mechanism is used.
I think we can sometimes look at disciplined people we admire and think, "Oh, they are different than we are. I've tried really hard and I can't do it." The disciplined people can make things look easy, but I suspect that they were hard at first. But as you focus on what is important and achieve success, I think (hope!) that there can be a deeper joy than just spending a few minutes playing a game or crossing things that don't really matter off a list. Another thing we might not realize about the people we admire is that they have almost certainly failed in the past. As far as I can see, failure is something that we can expect in our lives, and the only thing to do is get up and try again. If we haven't thought about the purpose of our lives, this is discouraging and pointless. But if we can see our lives on a trajectory toward a larger purpose, that can help.
On the other side of the equation, he told the story of someone he knew who had been very undisciplined about treating his diabetes. The diabetic was chewed out by his doctor.
In my life, I feel like I don't have very much discipline. I'm constantly getting distracted by trivialities, or time wasters, and much of the time I can't make progress on some of the things I want to do. This is unsatisfying, and I'd like to figure out how to change it.
I think discipline comes in two parts. First, you must figure out what is important, and then, you need to make a system to actually do the important things. Sometimes what is important becomes critical and obvious: make these lifestyle changes or you will die. Other times it comes from our heart, as with people who need to write, or dance, or fly, or any other passion that they cannot live without. But I think that much of the time we must study and consider what is important.
I think that Alec spent time studying God's will and the people around him, as well as his heart, to decide what was important to him. I have known people for whom everything is important. They are exhausting to be around, and sometimes end up not accomplishing anything that is really important. You really can't spend time on everything. Some things have to fall by the wayside, and as long as those are the less important things it is OK.
Sometimes I try to make lists of things to do for the weekend, but those are substitutes for a more considered list of what to spend my time on---I don't really have a more considered set of guiding principles that would make it easier to decide what to do and what to let go. (OK, I have two principles: keep the family clothed and fed. But beyond that, it is a bit of a mess). Also, not knowing what is important can lead to indecision which can lead to paralysis and (in my case) phone games or other time and energy wasters.
The second part of discipline is having some sort of system or support to get the important things done. The truth of the matter is, I believe that willpower alone cannot get the job done, or at least not long term. We need things like habits, check lists, schedules, systems of friends to encourage us and keep us accountable... I'm sure there are more. I believe that the Holy Spirit can prod us and change our hearts, although I'm not sure exactly what mechanism is used.
I think we can sometimes look at disciplined people we admire and think, "Oh, they are different than we are. I've tried really hard and I can't do it." The disciplined people can make things look easy, but I suspect that they were hard at first. But as you focus on what is important and achieve success, I think (hope!) that there can be a deeper joy than just spending a few minutes playing a game or crossing things that don't really matter off a list. Another thing we might not realize about the people we admire is that they have almost certainly failed in the past. As far as I can see, failure is something that we can expect in our lives, and the only thing to do is get up and try again. If we haven't thought about the purpose of our lives, this is discouraging and pointless. But if we can see our lives on a trajectory toward a larger purpose, that can help.
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