Are you lacking Self-Discipline? - Part 1Written by Carl Cholette
A man does not live until he begins to discipline himself; he merely exists. Like an animal he gratifies his desires and pursues his inclinations just where they may lead him. He is happy as a beast is happy, because he is not conscious of what he is depriving himself; he suffers as beast suffers, because he does not know way out of suffering. He does not intelligently reflect upon life, and lives in a series of sensations, longings, and confused memories which are unrelated to any central idea or principle. A man whose inner life is so ungoverned and chaotic must necessarily manifest this confusion in visible conditions of his outer life in world; and though for a time, running with stream of his desires, he may draw to himself a more or less large share of outer necessities and comforts of life, he never achieves any real success nor accomplishes any real good, and sooner or later wordly failure and disaster are inevitable, as direct result of inward failure to properly adjust and regulate those mental forces which make outer life. Before a man accomplish anything of an enduring nature in world he must first of all acquire some measure of success in management of his own mind. This is as mathematical a truism as that two and two are four, for, "out of heart are issues of life." If a man cannot govern forces within himself, he cannot hold a firm hand upon outer activities which form his visible life. On other hand, as a man succeeds, in governing himself he rises to higher and higher levels of power and usefulness and success in world. The only difference between life of beast and that of undisciplined man is that man has a wider variety of desires, and experiences a greater intensity of suffering. It may be said of such a man that he is dead, being truly dead to self-control, chastity, fortitude, and all nobler qualities which constitute life. In consciousness of such a man crucified Christ ies entombed, awaiting that resurrection which shall revivify mortal sufferer, and wake him up to a knowledge of tha realities of his existence. With practice of self-discipline a man begins to live, for he then commences to rise above inward confusion and to adjust his conduct to a steadfast centre within himself. He ceases to follow where inclination leads him, reins in steed of his desires, and lives in accordance with dictates of reason and wisdom. Hitherto his life has been without purpose or meaning, but now he begins to consciously mould his own destiny; he is "clothed and in his right mind."
| | Completing Unpleasant TasksWritten by Lynn Cutts
We all have tasks we don't enjoy doing, but they have to get done. Whether it's doing our taxes, cleaning out refrigerator, or filing that pile of papers, these are chores we dread. So we end up putting them off over and over again, until "To File" pile threatens to avalanche onto floor, or science experiment in back of fridge develops legs and walks away.Usually when this happens, we get mad at ourselves, which makes us dislike job even more. We accuse ourselves of being lazy, of having no self-discipline. But that isn't really problem. Most of time, it's simply that task is unpleasant, or we're not good at it, or it's boring. We get less out of task than we put into it. Or at least it feels that way. So instead of berating ourselves about our laziness or procrastination, let's take that energy and use it to figure out how to make that chore more pleasant or rewarding. (Chocolate usually works for me.) Sometimes it's as simple as pulling out a pair of rubber gloves before you tackle fridge, or brewing a special pot of coffee to sip while you struggle with taxes. The most effective thing to do is to change your feelings about chore. Find something positive about it and focus on that. Be glad you have a refrigerator with food in it. Appreciate fact that you have sufficient income to pay taxes. Here are a few more suggestions about how to handle chore you hate. *Can you make chore more pleasant? Maybe you could light a candle or some incense, play your favorite music, sip a special brew of tea or coffee, if that's your thing. My daughter does her ironing in front of television. *Break a big task down into smaller pieces. Don't clean out entire refrigerator; just do one shelf. Don't attack all your filing at once, just do ten pieces a day. *Set a timer, and work on that task for just ten minutes, then quit for day. You can do anything for just ten minutes. Often, however, once you get started, you want to keep going. That's fine too.
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