The Bridge – Discipline:

If This Card Chooses You – You’ve fatally confused discipline with punishment and now feel too debilitated to escape. Uh oh!
From our subconscious we summon a rescuer. That rescuer is OUR ESSENTIAL SELF. In dreams sometimes it’s a hero, a fictional or historic figure or a spirit animal. Try reading folk or fairy tales right before bed. Fall asleep imagining strengthening muscles – physical, spiritual, emotional – growing inside you.

You are Jack AND the beanstalk! No giant can stand against you. Even the laziest, cruelest corner of the self ultimately collapses to reveal a Tiny Child yearning for effective mothering. Time to mother yourself.

Discipline is the only path to achieving what we want. Nothing is achieved (or appreciated!) without discipline, which only means conforming your behavior to a previously conceived pattern. What ideas spring up when you think about this? Is “discipline” always cruel? Painful? Is it one of your fears? Or is it the map to the orderly life you long for?

You Are Your Best Friend and Best Parent – Nothing works in your life until you learn delayed gratification and stick-to-itiveness. But first you must experiment with other patterns – some of which –depending on your upbringing – can be hellish. So you have THAT to get past. You will definitely need to harness all your dream power to get yourself over the finish line.

Adapt discipline constantly to enhance thriving. But who’s doing the adapting – the Cruel Taskmaster, the Disgusted Lover, the Generous Parent or the Permissive Saint? You contain all these (and they live in your dreams) so which will you listen to? Who do you feed? The one with more power controls your future. Consult appealing patterns that have worked for others and blend to taste. Realize it’s a process; a series of moments. Develop a sophisticated discernment you can trust to guide you.

Warriors Set Marks and Hit Them – Forming habits is easier than breaking them apart, so warriors know that preventing bad habits is the core of discipline. But bad habits sneak up on us, they will form anyway, so part of your discipline will always be turning away from something that was formerly pleasurable. Enjoy the peace that comes with each small step.

Warriors Know How to Keep Going – Discipline is the bridge that gets you from where you are to where you want to be. Always use a “spotter” – a professional who’s “been there” and who can keep you from going over the edge.

Warriors Celebrate Their Discipline – Self-acceptance comes from experiencing our humanity to the fullest. We are “parenting” our much-loved and respected self, the one who starts out as a toddler with no self-control whom we’re trying to keep out of the fire. Forgive yourself. And keep going.

Make Discipline Visual – Charts, maps, graphs and lists that hearten & cheer are key to purposeful pathways. Figure out a way to picture your values. Checking off boxes and cherishing the “proof” of a successful day becomes your joy.

Models & Mentors – “Through self-discipline comes freedom” – Aristotle

“Motivation gets you going, but discipline keeps you going” – John C. Maxwell

“All success begins with self-discipline. It starts with you.” – Dwayne Johnson

‘Day by day – what you choose, what you think, what you do, is who you become” – Heraclitus

#Haiku: Discipline

Discipline is
Choosing
Between what you want now
And what you want
Most