The Bridge – Discipline – Discipline is the only path

Suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret, there is no in-between. The Bridge is a human-engineered concept to get us from one place to another. Otherwise you remain stuck forever.

GOALS: Conform your daily life to a pattern of conduct to shape your future. You know this from school, medicine and sports – teach your mind, teach your body, strengthen your will, sharpen your soul, satisfy your dreams.

DREAMS – Is your vision of “discipline” cruel for cruelty’s sake? Do you fear it? Or is it the map to the orderly life of achievement and glory you long for?

You Are Your Best Friend and Best Parent – Nothing works in your life until you learn “delayed gratification” sometimes known as stick-to-itiveness. But first you must experiment with other patterns – some of which – depending on your upbringing – can be hellish so you have THAT to get over with. You will definitely need to harness all your spiritual power to get yourself to the finish line.

Recognize Health – Map your training regimen in your training Journal. There is no need to make things up – there are many systems to experiment with and adopt. Does it work WITH or AGAINST you? Does it promote hope and confidence or discouragement and self-hatred? Start by consulting appealing patterns that have worked for others and blend them to your taste and comfort level. Be aware that we must constantly expand our comfort level. Realize it’s a process; a series of moments. Develop a sophisticated discernment you can trust to guide you. Follow the grain of your soul. Be kind parent to yourself.

Challenge – We adapt our discipline constantly to enhance our thriving. But who’s doing the adapting – the Cruel Taskmaster, the Disgusted Lover, the Generous Parent or the Permissive Saint? You contain all these (and they live deep in your psyche) so which will you listen to? Which wolf will you feed? Which has more power over you? Because that’s the one who will control your future. Consider your past in your Training Journal. Where did life start to go bad for others in your group? What were they doing/not doing? Feedback with a Trusted Other keeps us grounded. Meditation that invites the spirit keeps us centered.

Danger – Feedback loop! We fatally confused discipline with punishment and now we’re too debilitated to escape. Uh oh!

Opportunity – From our dreams we will summon a rescuer. That rescuer is OUR ESSENTIAL SELF. In legends
it may be a “hero”, some fictional or historic figure or even a spirit animal. Try reading evocative folk tales, myths or “fairy stories” right before bed. Fall asleep imagining strengthening muscles – physical, spiritual, emotional – growing inside YOU. YOU are both Jack AND the beanstalk! No giant can stand against you. Even the laziest, cruelest corner of the self collapses to reveal itself as a Tiny Child yearning for effective mothering. We will mother ourselves.

#Haiku: Discipline

Discipline is
Choosing
Between what you want now
And what you want
Most