There are a lot of people in this world who think that authority is a problem. They really have a tough time with anybody or anything trying to exercise authority over them. These are rebellious people. You've seen all sorts of kids in public places telling their moms or dads off.
They just have a tough time with authority. Fair enough. You have an issue with people telling you what to do. You think you probably have a better idea of what you can do with your life. Again, fair enough.
But here's the problem. If you think that way, you have to accept responsibility for yourself. In other words, you have to have a better game plan or road map for your life than the people that you're turning your back on. You don't like the authority exercised over you by your father. You don't like the tone of the voice of your teacher. Again, fair enough.
But you better have a road map that will take you to where you want to go. Otherwise, you are just fooling yourself. The truth is if you refuse to be disciplined, somebody, eventually, will do it for you. And let me tell you, it's not going to have the graciousness, compassion and kindness of your parents.
When your parents try to discipline you, please understand that they're disciplining you because they love you. They know all the bad things that can happen to you if you are not disciplined. They know that you can gain a lot of weight and essentially, your health will deteriorate at a certain point in the future.
They also know that without self-discipline, you might run afoul of the law. In fact, they know that without effective self-discipline, you probably won't be able to find a job, much less keep one. That's how important self-discipline is.
Make no mistake about it. This is the cement that holds your life together. You might not like it, you might reject this fact, but all the rejection and discomfort in the world is not going to make this fact go away. It is the truth.
Self-discipline is required. It's required today the same way it was required yesterday and will be required long into the future. Until and unless you are able to wrap your mind around these central facts, you are going to position your life to a bad ending. No joke.
Again, you have to either discipline yourself or somebody else will do it for you. Just how bad can things get? Well, you can go to jail. And let me tell you, when you get into prison, you better tow the line, follow the rules or you will get infraction after infraction after infraction.
Now you may be thinking that these infractions are just points in some ledgers somewhere that doesn't really have any effect. Well, think again. The more infractions you have, the longer the chance that you will stay in jail.
You may be in there for a fairly minor crime punishable by your imprisonment. But given how you refuse to be disciplined and how you refuse to follow the rules, you might stay in prison for a much longer time.
Worse yet, if you're so undisciplined that you end up harming another inmate or you get into some sort of altercation so inmates harm you or whatever other situations may happen, your prison sentence can get longer and longer.
That's how discipline works. Either you have to discipline yourself or something or somebody else will. Believe me. Nobody can discipline you with as much kindness, love and understanding as the discipline you give yourself.
This is why it's really important to practice discipline every single day. Sure, you don't like the way things are. Sure, there's always a short cut. Sure, you are uncomfortable with the things that you have to day in day out.
In fact, in many cases, you feel like your life is some sort of routine that is just a punishment or it's as if you are going through an ordeal. You don't really think that you're doing the things that you want to do. Well, here's the problem. We're no longer kids.
Once you get past the age of 18, you're an adult and you're going to have to live with the consequences of your choices. Unfortunately, if you choose to be undisciplined, the consequences can be very harsh indeed. Regardless of how busy you are, you can choose to practice self-discipline right here, right now.
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