Words of wisdom for this week
“We learn nothing when we succeed. We only learn when we fail.”
~ Verner Von Braun
In life, we either pay the price of discipline or the price of regret. We pay these prices in all areas of our life: our careers, relationships, health, spiritual development, and financial affairs. It is unfortunate that many of us, yours truly included, fail to comprehend this simple law of life.
Let me explain. The laws that apply to all of life’s issues such as discipline, commitment, patience, integrity, practice, self-control, and focus either help us live with freedom, peace and harmony, or heartache, failure, regrets and misfortune as we move along the path of life. Much of the latter could be avoided (not all of it) if we would understand, accept and integrate this simple truth into our lives.
The price of discipline is that daily dose of exercise, that moderation in our life affairs, our eating habits, our relationship strategies such as open and honest communication, and managing our resources wisely. The lack of these daily little disciplines accumulate day by day and year by year until each of us inherits the consequences of these misdeeds.
I have had many personal experiences where the daily lack of discipline one day came back and haunted me. I am discovering through these learning experiences that no one is immune to this truth. Arrogance, ignorance or a combination of both is no excuse, and life really doesn’t give a twit if you claim either. We pay one way or another. And discipline weighs ounces, while regrets weigh tons.
The pain of discipline is nothing compared to the sting of regret.
One way to determine which you are paying is to:
- Pay attention to your quiet, yet persistent, inner voice urging you to change something, anything, everything.
- Listen to the people around you: relatives, friends, associates. Are they trying to tell you something?
- Look at past areas of your life in which you have experienced regret of some kind. Are you repeating old behaviors?
- Tune in to life – its issues, demands, expectations, and all of the voices, signals and messages you are receiving.
Copyright: 8/2010 Tim Connor, CSP – Connor Resource Group
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