On Saturday morning, Lorann (in the pink leggings) left her shore house at 6:30 a.m. so she could make our 9:30 a.m. class. Atta girl!
Thanks to Lorann’s impressive Saturday morning commitment to herself, I was inspired to launch a new “Words With Friends”:
Discipline
A word I’ve intentionally avoided… until now.
Memes, like this, are why I’ve never been a fan of the D-word
While I’ve evolved into a fairly disciplined person, I’ve never been a fan of the word discipline.
It has always sounded so stern and restrictive. It reminds me of struggling through my early years of school – following someone else’s rules. I’ve always been a bit of a free spirit, and prefer going at my own pace.
In fact, that’s one of the reasons I started Mojo. I was bored with traditional exercise, so I created a fun, non-traditional way to get a kick-a– workout!
Encouraging discipline in our community tends to conjure up images of boot camp sargent-style yelling, finger wagging, and forcing ourselves to do things we’d rather avoid.
I’ve always hoped people come to Mojo because they want and need it, not because they feel guilty. They know how much better they feel afterwards.
However, I recently I stumbled across an idea from the Stoics, ancient Greek and Roman philosophers, that completely reframed the idea of discipline for me to the point that I am actually fond of the word…
Isn’t this the best!!
More than 2,000 years ago, The Stoics believed that while we can’t control everything that happens around us, we can control how we respond. They weren’t obsessed with perfection. They were interested in living wisely, building character, and making choices their future selves would be grateful for.
Looser schedules and enjoying boardwalk ice creams are meant to be enjoyed in Summer, and I fully intend to enjoy mine. But in the end, when we choose to loosen our personal rules, we are not breaking them to society – or to the universe, we are affecting our future self.
Every promise we keep to ourselves strengthens trust.
Every promise we repeatedly break slowly chips away at it.
For me, thinking of discipline in this way is more like an act of kindness. Every workout and healthy choice is a gift to the person we are becoming.
Every walk, stretch, weight training session and Mojo class says, “I’m taking care of the person I am going to be next week, next year, and twenty years from now.
Summer is full of wonderful distractions. Vacations, cookouts, celebrations, late nights, ice cream runs, and long afternoons by the pool are some of life’s greatest joys. And they should be.
The trick isn’t avoiding those moments. It’s being aware that your future self needs a little attention, too.
Not punishment. Not perfection. Just choosing, over and over again, to be loyal to the incredible person we are becoming.
And judging by Lorann’s 6:30 a.m. departure on Saturday morning…I’d say she’s already figured that out. Thanks for the inspriation, GF!
Just another reason to shake it UP summer with us this week!
Related Articles
