Discipline is all a matter of time!

When we are fully present, we almost always know what to do. This is why it is so important to remain present as often as possible. When we try rush or stuff our lives with too many activities, or take ourselves out of the present through addictive behavior, we lose our connection to what is real in the moment. Later we may say " that was a dumb thing to do or say." If we remind ourselves to wait and stay present, we will remember what we really want to do or say. This is where holding yourself to what you know is right comes in -discipline!

When we are present and inhibit our habitual reactions through patience, it gives us a chance to go beyond our ego and sense what our true self knows to do or say. This can be illustrated more concretely, when you are practicing a sidekick. If I am having a difficult time striking a target hard with my side kick, I could keep adding more speed and power with my will. Usually, I will get farther and farther from what I am trying to achieve with this method.

Instead, I could stop, empty my mind, try the technique as slowly as I can, and then see if I can now identify what instructions I can use that will change the outcome. Many times I will quickly discover what it is I need to do. Other times I may need to repeat the process or ask others to watch.

In the next stage I will find that when I try to speed-up, I will go back to my old patterns. This reminds me of a story:

There was a student walking to the dojang who would get to a spot where there was a hole in the ground. Every time his left foot got stuck in that hole and he tripped and fell. Each time he cursed and ran on with mud on his dobok. Eventually, he started to absorb some of the lessons from his master about mushim and innnae.

He decided to leave for class a little earlier and he took his time enjoying the walk with his mind more and more present instead on what he would be practicing in class. The student would start to slip into the hole, but he would be present enough to catch his balance. As the student absorbed more of the master's lessons on discipline and he became better at holding himself to leaving for class on time, he spent less time worrying about if he would remember his forms in class, and held himself to noticing the his surroundings more. Not only did he start remembering his forms better, but his performance became more powerful. Most importantly, he noticed that there was a path he had never noticed before that was a little quicker, had no hole to fall in, and had a beautiful view!

When you find that you slip back to your old patterns when you speed things up, you know you must slow things down so that you can be mindful enough to replace your reaction with a new one. You must be humble and patient enough to really break things down into small pieces

In our next installment, I will explain how the realization that we really do control our reactions is!