Discipline
Children need discipline to feel secure; so do adults.
Discipline means understanding there are logical consequences to our behavior. Discipline means taking responsibility for our behavior and the consequences.
Discipline means learning to wait for what we want.
Discipline means being willing to work for and toward what we want.
Discipline means learning and practicing new behaviors.
Discipline means being where we need to be, when we need to be there, despite our feelings.
Discipline is the day to day performing of tasks, whether these are recovery behaviors or washing the dishes.
Discipline involves trusting that our goals will be reached though we cannot see them.
Discipline can be grueling. We may feel afraid, confused, and uncertain. Later, we will see the purpose. But this clarity of sight usually does not come during the time of discipline. We may not even believe we're moving forward.
But we are.
The task at hand during times of discipline is simple: listen, trust, and obey.
Higher Power, help me learn to surrender to discipline. Help me be grateful that You care enough about me to allow these times of discipline and learning in my life. Help me know that as a result of discipline and learning, something important will have been worked out in me.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.
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As a compulsive overeater, I had NO discipline ANYWHERE in my life! Sure, I'd get up and go to work, but I had no routine in place to deal with all the other responsibilities that needed attention. My inner brat was in charge, insisting I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted to, and I 'deserved' to! Nobody was gonna tell ME what to DO or how to do it! Pffffffttttttttttttt.
I wound up with laundry piled up to the ceiling. I'd putt off doing housework until the place was filthy. I'd sleep in till noon on the weekends, accomplishing nothing and expecting nothing of myself. I'd eat & drink to my heart's content because I wasn't about to 'deprive' myself of anything. I bought everything I wanted, whether I needed it or not. The instant gratification I sought in every aspect of life brought me to a dark place, where I was obese, alcoholic, with more 'stuff' than I had room for!
As a compulsive overeater, I had NO discipline ANYWHERE in my life! Sure, I'd get up and go to work, but I had no routine in place to deal with all the other responsibilities that needed attention. My inner brat was in charge, insisting I could do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted to, and I 'deserved' to! Nobody was gonna tell ME what to DO or how to do it! Pffffffttttttttttttt.
I wound up with laundry piled up to the ceiling. I'd putt off doing housework until the place was filthy. I'd sleep in till noon on the weekends, accomplishing nothing and expecting nothing of myself. I'd eat & drink to my heart's content because I wasn't about to 'deprive' myself of anything. I bought everything I wanted, whether I needed it or not. The instant gratification I sought in every aspect of life brought me to a dark place, where I was obese, alcoholic, with more 'stuff' than I had room for!
When I embraced recovery, I realized that the only thing that had to change was EVERYTHING. I developed a solid routine for when and what I ate, chores, laundry, exercise bedtimes and waking up times........I routinized my entire life, leaving Saturday as a 'free' day, so to speak, but not a 'free' day where I could eat/drink & be merry. I just didn't plan the entire day out, but only my meal times. I forced DISCIPLINE on myself and as a result, I am now slim & healthy, with a clean house and folded-and-put-away laundry!
Discipline can be grueling, yes, but a lack of discipline is even MORE grueling! What constitutes "enough" in the mind of an addict? Only discipline will create 'enough', and we carve out a new 'normal' which keeps us feeling good about ourselves.
Discipline can be grueling, yes, but a lack of discipline is even MORE grueling! What constitutes "enough" in the mind of an addict? Only discipline will create 'enough', and we carve out a new 'normal' which keeps us feeling good about ourselves.
For today, I am grateful for the discipline in my life. I am grateful for the ability to ignore the inner brat that tries to surface now & then, and to take my rightful place as an Adult in the real world.
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