Catalyst

Posts Tagged ‘discipline’

Sometimes your life just needs a good “kick” to get it moving. It happened to me at age 45.

That’s a little old to start something like karate classes, but I got the yen to try it. I went to a local karate school and asked about classes. After several seconds of strange looks (like I was had four noses on my face), the teenager at the desk said that the appropriate class met on Tuesday night.

When Tuesday came, I went back to the school, enrolled and looked around at the rest of the class. The next youngest student in the oldest class was 16 years old! Here I was, a graying middle-aged man in a sea of limber, energetic teenagers.

I stretched, hurt, exerted, and sweated. I’m sure I was a sight! I even cracked a rib trying to do a flip that I would do poorly at age 8.

Why would anyone put themselves in such a terribly difficult and embarrassing situation?

I needed the challenge. Routines are both effective and deadening. I needed routine to keep my life together, but I needed a new set of experiences to stir my thinking and my body. Karate had a discipline element in it so it fit with much of my personality. When you do something different, you become something different. Take the challenge to be different.

But the serendipity was that it influenced others. A father brought his 10 year old to the class and watched weekly. He witnessed a crazy grown-up trying to act like a child. (I’m sure there were plenty of snickers.) After about 2 months, he enrolled in class. We struck up a conversation and he told me that he was afraid of looking foolish. He wanted to do something with his son and this was the avenue. He explained that watching me gave him the courage to take classes. I never intended to influence anyone, but all action is on display for examination by others. You never know who you will touch.

I took classes for four months, earning (yes, earning!) an orange belt. I moved to a new job and had to leave the class. But the experience was priceless. While I did a lot of kicking, it got a real “kick” out of the class.

While karate might not be your “kick,” find something that will make you “kick” up your heels!

When the belly of U.S. Airways flight 1589 grazed the lapping water of the Hudson River, the pilot, Captain Chelsey Sullenberger was thrust into the role of hero.

It seem to miraculous that, after hitting a flock of birds the took out both engines, “Sully” could make a crash landing in the Hudson with no loss of life.

Yet, Sullenberger was not merely being modest when he said, “”I know I speak for the entire crew when I tell you we were simply doing the jobs we were trained to do,”

Sullenberger knew that the hours of training, sometimes monotonous training, made the difference at the critical moment.

Mia Hamm, the leader of the 2004 Olympic women’s soccer team said, “I am building a fire, and everyday I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match.”Those who train respond when the time comes.

What kind of training do you need?

Work your body. Over the long haul, age, disease, and fatigue take a toll. Thirty minutes of vigorous exercise each day gives you hours, days and years to accomplish great things.

Use your mind. Read books. Visit with those smarter and quicker than you. Make your mind a sponge by thinking seriously about some topic each day. A trained mind can make vital decisions when needed.

Hone your skills. If you are a preacher, don’t cheat on sermon preparation. Learn how to deepen presentations and how to prepare them faster. Let it be said of you at the end of your life that you were better than when you were young.

Sharpen your discipline. Learn to use time well. Squeeze every ounce of use of each moment. Learn to say “yes” to the right things. Rein in your emotions. Then, when tested, you do not respond with how you feel but with what is right.