Discipline
Discipline is a 10 letter word that has a number of different meanings. One of those meanings is “the practice of training people to obey rules or follow a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.” A second definition is “a branch of knowledge, typically studied in higher education.” Another definition of discipline when used as a verb means “to train oneself to do something in a controlled or habitual way.”
2020 has been a year that has asked a lot of everyone around the world to exhibit a lot of “discipline” into their lives. The worldwide pandemic has either helped individuals decide to change or modify some of their habits. In other instances, such change has been regulated upon the individual from either local, regional, state or national oversight in their lives.
Some people respond well to discipline. On the other hand there are those who do not respond well to it. For many the word “discipline” enters their life when they are children. When a child does something wrong, in many instances they suffer the consequences of a punishment, either by parents, (monetary allowance kept from the child, not allowed to do a particular activity they enjoy), or school authorities, (needing to stay after school, additional homework assignments, etc.). The word “discipline,” for many continues to have a “negative connotation,” even as they move through childhood and then into their adult years. It is felt by many, that when I am an adult I can do whatever I want, (ideally within the boundaries of the law), and no one can tell me to do so differently.
2020 has asked individuals to institute a lot of self-control into their life. For my wife and me it has meant not eating out at any restaurants, (we will order from restaurants, but bring the food home as take out). We had been getting delivery regularly of a daily newspapers, (more so for the Sports news and the Entertainment and Puzzle page). Without the delivery, we have relied on getting our News and Sports information from online sites and finding websites with the puzzles we did from the newspaper and printing them out to complete. Our shopping habits have been modified to get just necessities at the grocery store, the pharmacy, to visit medical practitioners by following protocols, etc. Have these changes, and others like them been a challenge. Yes, they were at first, but in a number of cases they have become the normal for us, and I don’t think we will go back to the way things were. For others, we will go back, (I do miss having lunch or dinner at the local restaurants in the village near where I live, but only when I feel the time is right to do so).
Obviously I know not everyone agrees with how my wife and I are approaching things. In fact, at times we have discussed what is different about us than others that will take more of a risk than we are, given the current health climate in the world. Some may say that we are just not risk adverse people. Others would say that we are not willing to stick up for our rights to do as we please. And, still others would say we are letting government authorities and society dictate how we live our life. Even if there are some semblances of truth in any of these comments, I know our focus all along has been based on a few things. We certainly do not want to risk getting severely ill, particularly with one of us, (me), having been a heart patient for 21 years. We do truly believe that we could be carriers of the virus, and therefore get others ill, about which we would feel terrible. But, I think it finally came to me why we are reacting the way we have been.
Each of us have been extremely disciplined in how we live our lives, when we have been asked to sacrifice on behalf of others. Whether it has been caring for aging or sick family members, doing favors for others, or making choices to do one item over another, and not feeling badly that time or resources may allow us to do both in the same time period, we are conditioned to do so. Living a life with discipline in it, to either adapt one’s habits or instill new habits to help either the greater good for one’s self or for others takes a true commitment. Sadly, that seems to be missing in our world in 2020. Here’s to hoping as we move forward, that some more of that comes back into our society as we look to progress forward in 2021 and beyond.
