Personal Growth through Sacrifice and Discipline

Sacrifice of self to self. What does it mean? It means letting go of the old self for a new and better self. This is a hard thing to do as we get comfortable with whom and what we are. Our old self is familiar, seems safe, and is relatively effortless to maintain.

Change takes us beyond our boundaries, challenges us to what is not familiar, and forces us to give up well-worn habits. It requires effort and sacrifice of things we have learned to enjoy. Those are things that are pleasant but stand in the way of highest good.

We think we are a mind and a body and do what we can to satisfy the desires of mind and body. Seldom do we step beyond. Being stuck in a limited perception, the selfish do not sacrifice.

Do you want to live forever? Well, maybe you do live forever, but not as you are now. Death means new beginning. Sometimes we are not ready for it. Other times we feel stagnant and embrace it.

What does it mean to die daily? It means sacrificing your immediate wants to affect a future result or metamorphosis. Actually sacrificing of self to self, quite often to the benefit of others as well. Totally surrender your self and you will find your true self.

Giving is a virtue. You've no doubt heard that it is better to give than to receive. But oh, how we all like to receive! Receiving is good too. Exchange cannot take place without both present. One cannot take place without the other, and it is not just a one-way exchange.

There is a law of compensation. If you give, you get. We do not live in a vacuum. Our actions always bring results of one kind or another, whether we immediately realize it or not.

What I am saying is do not ever feel frustration when trying to improve your self. Any efforts you make do not go wasted; so do not think there is such a thing as wasted effort. You are creating ripples and building a store of experience that will eventually bear fruit.

Do a big thing, or do any little thing many times toward your goal. Know that fulfillment will happen through persistence. If you give up and stop persisting then simply start again.

There may be something you want to have or something you want to be. That is your goal. You've no doubt thought about it and how to obtain it. Let's go further and write the goal down on paper to give you more focus. Put it at the top of the page in pen.

Grab a red marker and draw an arrow pointing up toward your goal. Now go back to your pen and write along the line of the arrow. Write things you can do to work toward achieving the goal and how you can make arrangements to put in the work.

Review this paper often. This is your action plan. It has one direction and one intention - your goal. You are the archer with your bow drawn and arrow pointing toward your target. Now let go the string.

Your new self is the you that has attained the goal. The old self may try to stand in the way of reaching it. You sacrifice your old self by keeping discipline, for discipline is what sacrifices require. Goal achievement often is a process of personal growth.

Sometimes discipline means not trying to get the whole thing at once. Anxiousness and impatience are not qualities of discipline, and neither is selfishness. You may have to put in effort a little at a time over a long period. Don't worry about it, worry destroys discipline.

Don't get angry about it either, but if you do get angry, then be happy. Why? Because having anger means you have lots of energy. Channel that energy toward your goal rather than just blowing off steam and maybe you just might get the whole thing at once.

Discipline makes the difference. It means you have an ideal that you are willing to sacrifice for.

Got Discipline? Just keep regularity in your efforts and you will find that discipline builds from there.

Until Next Time, Good Health and Well-Being!

Dave Kettner