We are in the nineteen month of the COVID-19 global pandemic and have watched in horror as a health crisis turned into an economic crisis. There is a lot of fear, anxiety, uncertainty and confusion and yet time never stops. Man is by nature a social animal and will most times seek escape from any confinement. The COVID-19 pandemic has condemned us to staying home.
We are in this together and each one of us has to look from within to find something to cling to and move forward within the confines of the pandemic.
I for one would have been greatly depressed if I did not have my faith to cling to . Faith gives me the hope I need to look to the future. From the way things are going and at the rate at which they are moving, I have found myself in great need of another attribute: discipline.
The online Oxford Learner’s dictionary defines discipline as: a method of training your mind or body or of controlling your behavior.
Self- discipline-the ability to control yourself or work hard without relying on others to tell you what to do so or what is important.
The psychologists tell us that discipline brings stability and structure to our lives enabling us to live in harmony with others. It teaches a person to be responsible and respectful. It promotes good human behaviour and makes society more enjoyable and a place for everyone to live.
We have to exert discipline on a daily basis to create harmony. A lack of discipline results into chaos.
Successful people tend to be highly self- disciplined. Success and self- discipline go hand in hand.
We start developing discipline in our childhood while guided by our parents, teachers, mentors and sponsors and this continues throughout one’s lifetime.
In today’s Digital world , there are so many distractions around us like Social media, mobile phones and the internet. Having your goals in mind, self-discipline will help you focus on the most essential in your life. Discipline enables each one of us to get the right things done while at the same time becoming the best ” you”.
During this long period of uncertainty, I have come to understand that I needed discipline more than I have ever needed in my life.
Discipline helps each one of us to focus and to reduce stress as we take care of what needs to be done.
At this moment in time, I need truckloads of it if I have to develop the patience to wait out the pandemic – as things slowly return as close to normalcy as possible. Time has not stopped during the COVID-19 restrictions/confines so the best way to move forward is to adapt to the main changes and survive.
- I need the discipline to wake up on time, make my bed and to open my mind and heart to the new possibilities of the day.
- To make the tough decisions like making my will and act on them.
- To follow consistently the Public health Standard Operative Procedures ,keeping myself and others safe. As long as the COVID-19 virus remains a threat to our wellbeing and our communities have not yet reached herd immunity through the infection and vaccination, we cannot relax.
- To ensure that myself and those I love are fully vaccinated and have received their vaccination certificates.
- To work on my goals every day despite the COVID-19 restrictions.
- To self –care so that I can stay physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually healthy. This can be done by eating a healthy balanced diet, not smoking or abusing alcohol or drugs, taking regular exercises every day, having adequate regular sleep of 7-8 hours at night, taking regular medical check-ups and staying connected to loved ones and friends every day.
- To live my values despite the stress and anxiety. Spending the day living a relatively normal life within the confines of the pandemic.
None of us can imagine what life would be like after the pandemic but it will come.
Unlike the generation that suffered the Spanish Influenza Epidemic of 1918, our generation should be grateful for the immense advances in science, medicine and technology. They have made it possible to quickly identify the virus , develop a vaccine to it and some forms of symptomatic treatment. Those of 1918 did not even know the microbe that was causing the influenza as the electron microscope was yet to be invented(1931). Like them , physical distancing/ social distancing still remains our most effective response.
Until life returns to a new normal, it cannot be business-as –usual. Let us all develop the discipline to rise up and take up our roles in bringing the pandemic to an end.
I have compiled some quotes about discipline to encourage you and I along this long journey.
”The most powerful control we can ever attain is to be in control of ourselves.’’- Chis Page
”It’s not the work that’s hard, it’s the discipline.’’ Anonymous
”Life without discipline is like a ship without a rudder.’’– Ronie Mathew Thomas
”Once you have the commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there. ‘’– Haile Gebrselassie
”Circumstances are beyond human control but our control is in in our own power.’’- Benjamin Disraeli
”The more disciplined you become, the easier life gets.’’ – Stein Pavlina
”A disciplined mind leads to happiness, and an undisciplined mind leads to suffering.’’- Dalai Lama X1V
”Rule your mind or it will rule you.’’- Horace
”For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.’’- Plato
”I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself.’’– Pietro Aretino
”It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken away from you, nor by angels or by demons, heaven or hell.’’– Buddha
” If everything seems under control, you’re just not going fast enough.’’- Mario Andrette
”Without hard work and discipline, it is difficult to be a top professional.’’ – Jahangir Khan
Self-discipline: ”The road may be hard but the results are priceless.’’– Unknown
”What lies in our power to do, lies in our power not to do.’’- Aristole
”Self-discipline is that which , next to virtue, truly and essentially raises one man above another.’’- Joseph Addison
QUESTION:
How have the nineteen months of COVID-19 pandemic restrictions eroded your discipline to plan and implement thing?
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