“We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline, or the pain of regret and disappointment.” ~Jim Rohn
The word “discipline” carries a negative connotation for most folks, conjuring up images of childhood criticism or punishment.
It’s no wonder then that many people shy away from adopting “disciplines.”
But daily discipline is your amour against disappointment, and the font of hope.
That which one engages in each day, the “daily disciplines,” become foundational habits that keep us healthy, strong, and regret-free. Like brushing your teeth or doing sit-ups.
But if your daily “disciplines” involve complaining, or staring at the TV each night, or waiting for others to change for your circumstances to improve, then you will live in a constant state of disappointment.
Like weeds left untended for months, disappointment will choke the beauty—and life—from any garden in two ways:
- Disappointment turned outward cultivates resentment, which, left to propagate, becomes a briar patch of outrage.
- Disappointment turned inward breeds regret, which left unresolved, blocks the light and smothers hope.
If you’re disappointed—about the election, or your child, or your business, or your grades, or your love life, or whatever—take a good long look at your own complicity in the daily disciplines that produced your current reality.
I wish it were easier to rid yourself of regret, but there’s only one answer: You.
Wanna’ lose weight? Eat better. Move more.
Wanna’ make more friends? Share more. Listen more.
Wanna’ make more money? Read more. Learn more.
Your reality is your creation.
And nobody else is to blame, no matter how convenient it might be to believe that.
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.