22/04/2013
Greetings to you this Monday Morning.
He who lives without discipline ends without honor.
If we are to be the masters of our destiny, we need self-discipline, self-control, willpower, or self-mastery. Whatever you call it, it finally gets down to a ‘Will Power’ that makes the difference.
All other creatures we share the planet with, act as they were programmed to. Only a human being has the potential to act as he wills. We are born to rule or be ruled. If we do not rule ourselves, we will be ruled by our emotions, habits or worse, by others. Although we have that potential, many of us fail to live up to it. We can be heard to sigh, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
However, not everyone wants to improve. Some people say life is short, so they want to be free to do whatever they please, free to smoke and drink, free to party every night, free to hang-out until the late hours, free to chase after momentary pleasures. Think again…. Are they really ‘free’? How can you achieve freedom if you fail to follow your highest aspirations? Only if you conscientiously apply willpower can you reach your dreams. So, he who lives without discipline dies without honor. When we gain honor it remains with us forever, but when we chase after passing fancies, they fade away, leaving us diminished, leaving us less than what we could have been.
All right, so we agree willpower is necessary, but how do we strengthen it? It's like muscle: use it or lose it. The more you use it, the stronger it becomes. We choose between doing the right thing or succumbing to temptation. We choose between the easy way and the better, but more difficult way.
We know what is best for us. We know what we should do. Understand it’s not what we know, but what we ‘do’ that counts.
It’s the willpower in action that brings credibility and achievement.
Make it a great week ahead!