On self discipline. “When a person lives heedlessly, his craving grows like a creeping vine. He runs now here and now there, as if looking for fruit: a monkey in the forest. If this sticky, uncouth craving overcomes you in the world, your sorrows grow like wild grass after rain. If, in the world, you overcome this uncouth craving, hard to escape, sorrows roll off you like water beads off a lotus.” – The Dhammapada, collection of the sayings of Buddha, in verse form When we hear someone talk about self-discipline, do we turn our heads away, afraid that they might want us to comment on where we are with our efforts? Or are we so confused about whether or not we’ve made any progress in this area that we simply have nothing to say? Are we somewhere in-between? What about how we view ourselves as being capable of exercising self-discipline? Do we even give it much thought? We should, for at the heart of every effective recovery is an ability to practice self-discipline. This shouldn’t overly concern us, though, since we’ve already demonstrated a certain amount of self-discipline by going into rehab and sticking with the program. Now that we are in recovery, we need to apply what we’ve learned about being disciplined enough to follow through on our commitments, to tend to our everyday schedules and recovery-oriented tasks and activities. It isn’t always easy to practice self-discipline. Let’s get that out of the way right now. For one thing, we are all constantly bombarded with things that have to be done, by people clamoring for us to take action on one thing or another, by deadlines and ringing phones and emails that just won’t quit. There is also turmoil and stress going on at home, with the latest upheaval or project or disappointment or news of any kind of importance from our spouse, our children, other relatives – even news that arrives in the mail. What we’d really like to do is take a break from all the responsibility, to take some time off and just relax, to unwind and de-stress – without having to be reminded that we need to exercise a little more self-discipline. When other people seek to remind us of this, they’re talking about having discipline. When we talk to ourselves about doing it, it is self-discipline. No one else can do this for us. And, isn’t it always so much easier for someone else to tell us what they think we need to do, rather than for them to practice it themselves? Sometimes, though, we need a little help figuring out the best way to improve our self-discipline. It may help to think of the effort as one that is positive and uplifting, leading to the accomplishment of long-held goals rather than to look upon self-discipline as something to be avoided at all costs, a painful and boring effort. Here’s what can happen when we train ourselves to be a little more self-disciplined in our everyday lives. First, we commit to finishing what we start. This is the beginning of our living up to our word and following through on what we say. It is a sign that we respect ourselves enough to do what we tell others we will do, as well as what we tell ourselves in the quiet of our room. Granted, completing a task or project may not always be feasible, but we owe it to ourselves and our continuing development in recovery to do the best we can to complete what we start. Yes, we will be tempted to shove some part of the task off until another day, believing or telling ourselves that we’re too tired, we’ve done enough, that we lack time or resources or additional help. Maybe this is true in some instances or maybe we’re just conning ourselves. We’ve been pretty good at that in the past. But we know, deep down inside, when we can exert a little more effort, when we can put in a bit more time to get things done on schedule. Whether or not we choose to pay heed to the truth is a measure of how much self-discipline we have at the moment. And, let’s also be clear about this point: we may feel differently at different times. There will be some days when to continue what we’re doing may prove hazardous or at least harmful in some way to us or to others. In that circumstance, putting off until another time is not only the wise approach; it is the only safe course of action to follow. We can also learn from our own limitations so that the next project or task or activity we embark on we allocate sufficient time, round up everything that we believe is required to do the job, and don’t allow ourselves to become distracted from what we are doing. Keep present and stay busy. This will help cement our healthy and newly-growing self-discipline and allow us to tend to what needs to be done. ~iPromises~ Jen
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 12:12:16 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015