Why is Discipline a Bad Word?

First of all, I want to express my deepest gratitude for a few things:  1) Sarah is safe.  She is a member of our community who lives in Boston and she is safe.  2) Next, words cannot express enough gratitude for all the real life heros, both in uniform and out, who did whatever they could to help people in need and to capture the ones who committed the atrocity on Patriot's Day aka marathon day.  3) Gratitude goes out to all Bostonians everywhere who have banned together to "take back their city".  There have been so many examples of the strength and passion of the people of Boston.  Finally, a moment of prayer for those who lost their lives and who will have to battle back from unimaginable injuries.  May God bless them now and always. 

Now, to my topic today - discipline.  Amidst all the horrors in Boston and west Texas, life for many of us continued as planned.  One example of that is our nephew, Tyler.  He graudated from Army basic training on Thursday.  We are all very proud of him!  His journey inspired my topic today.  He is a wonderful boy from a wonderful family with two loving parents and 2 loving siblings.  With everything in his life, he graduated high school, went to his first year of college and did not meet with success.  In fact, he dropped out due to poor grades.  He decided that instead of trying college, he wanted to join the Army as a bottom of the barrel "grunt".  And he has blossomed, flourished and is happier that he has ever been!  We could not be more proud of him!

What happened to turn him around? One word - discipline.  I am of the belief that discipline gets a bad rap.  Many people do not like the idea of discipline.  They see it as a negative, an imposition.  And yet, discipline is the reason why many children succeed and others fail.  Kids like to know their boundaries.  It feels good to kids to know what their schedule is, when dinner is served, how much homework has to be done before they can play outside.

Are we adults that different?  NO!  Our bodies and minds respond well to structure, schedules and, yes, discipline.  Having positive daily habits, scheduled workouts, meal planning for healthy choices, is all part of a disciplined way of life that can help lead us to a healthier journey. 

Of course there are times we want to bust out and be spontaneous, do things out of the norm.  Hurray, don't stop that!  But if you are struggling to get to a lower healthier weight (is that all of us????), if you want to incoporate more exercise for stronger bones, lungs and heart, if you want to establish a better schedule to get more restorative sleep.....just engage with the big "D"-DISCIPLINE! 

Desire to make freinds with the big D.  Dedication to knowing what you need for heath.  Discipline to be disciplined with your healthy habits.