PRACTICE SELF-DISCIPLINE

Living the well life requires living with values and behaviors that may be radically different from the ones you had before your illness. Some days, the work of wellness may not be the easiest or most convenient to practice. On a cold and rainy morning, it might be easier to stay in bed and forget the exercise. And instead of preparing a high-nutrition lunch, it might seem simpler to use the drive-through window of the nearest fast food restaurant. Our intention to move toward wellness may seem strong, but too often our practices may not reflect that intent.

Wellness self-discipline includes thought and deed, intent and practice. This principle is equally valid whether you are facing a just-baked batch of chocolate-chip cookies, a dark cold morning for exercise, or an unforgivable person. Gentle, wholesome self- discipline is at the core of making wellness real in your life. The issue is not whether we can choose wellness. It's whether we will choose wellness.

The practice of self-discipline leads to two very powerful life qualities: self-respect and freedom. When your walk matches your talk, when intent and action are one, you have a consistency in your life that is unshakable. You are grounded in a principle- oriented life experience, firm in the knowledge that what you are doing physically, emotionally, and spiritually is in your best interest.

Inner strength and self-respect flow from this position. The discipline to actually act on what is important to you leads to personal freedom; you are no longer bound by the traps of obsession, compulsion, and self-pity. This is personal power at the highest level, a strong and quiet inner assurance that is one of the rewards of the wellness journey.

For some, discipline means pulling on sweats and running shoes the first thing in the morning. No excuses. They discipline themselves to exercise.  Diet should also be a wellness discipline. Even if you love sweets and pastries, you may have to stop yourself from indulging. You deserve better nutrition. Again, discipline.

Meditation, prayer and spiritual disciplines—who has time to fit them into a busy schedule? Yet many do, twice or more times each day. Discipline. Times of meditation, prayer, attending bible studies or worship result in a clearer perspective on the balance of the day that you will soon not be able to live without.

Some may argue that such discipline is merely another form of bondage.  You may well respond, "You're right, and so are you." Everyone has habits, unconscious disciplines if you will.  The issue is which habits we will choose in our lives. Choose a positive addiction. Decide to discipline yourself to choose the habits of wellness. The result is self-respect and freedom.

An Important Thing You Can Do

Match your walk with your talk, your actions with your best intentions. Pick one area—perhaps diet or exercise—and make that your focus today. Then choose another area for focus for the next day. And another the next. Feel your self-respect skyrocket. Congratulate yourself. Bask in the personal power and freedom this discipline brings to you.