Discipline : A Painful Process

Discipline is a thing I lack. I am getting better at it in some areas of my life and in others I still am far from where I would like to be, where I should be. I have found it to be a very difficult thing to achieve. Especially because becoming a person that is disciplined is a painful process. It takes a lot of effort. It takes sacrificing what you want for what you know is best. Sacrifice is uncomfortable. Discipline is uncomfortable. It takes focus. It takes resolve. It takes having real priorities. If something isn't super important to you, you will not make changes to become disciplined in that area.
In November, I began a "quest" to become a healthier me. Not so much in the eating habits but by working out and becoming more active. I had become lazy and overweight and my self-esteem had really suffered because of that. It took someone pointing out that to me for me to really get to a place where I sincerely was ready to make a change, to cultivate some discipline in that area of my life. It took me admitting I needed a change and then caring enough to actually do something about it.
That is what discipline is all about. Recognizing something that needs to change, caring enough about making the change, then DOING something about it. Just knowing you need to change isn't enough. Just caring about it isn't enough. It takes action too. And it's never easy. If it was easy, we would all have ourselves together.
The first few months of my journey to be more active were not fun. I did not enjoy getting up in the morning and hitting the gym when I could be in the bed or on the couch watching tv. But when I started seeing results, I felt a sense of accomplishment at what I had done and that fueled my desire to continue this new lifestyle even more.
I know that I need to start applying this to other areas of my life as well. I need to recognize areas of my life that are in need of a change, I need to care about making the change, and then I need to actually DO SOMETHING about it. Getting to that point takes time and I know it will be an uncomfortable process, but I also know from experience that it will be worth it in the end. I need to sacrifice some wants for what is best.