Discipline is a mindset Dear One, an attitude, an approach, a guide, a commitment.
It is not a contract, a commandment, an order, a doctrine, or a law that must be followed.

Discipline is flexible, malleable, adaptable,and strong.
It is not hard, rigid, tough, and unforgiving.

Discipline is the boat on water Dear One, not the rope tethering you to the dock.
It is the compass pointing your way, not the points plotted out on a map
It is the sail, and not the anchor.

Practicing discipline should strengthen you, empower you, guide you, help you to feel stronger, freer, more connected and in-synch with the world around you. Not frustrate you, weaken you, and leave you feeling depleted and restricted.

If what you are practicing is not not serving you in all of these positive ways Dear One, there is a very good chance that what you are practicing is not discipline at all, but that you are just being hard on yourself, and that is not the same thing.

The realization that you are bound by nothing Dear One, except for the limitations that you place on yourself, your beliefs, your choices, and your own imagination – that is what true independence is.

You don’t only hurt when you are injured Dear One. You don’t only feel discomfort when something is broken.

Sometimes you hurt because you are in a space that no longer fits you, that is too small for you, that you have outgrown.

This may be one of those times.

How do you know?  If you believe that feeling better will require you to move backwards, to undo something that has already been been done, to take back something that has already been said, you know.

If that is the case Dear One, don’t try and fix it.  Don’t try to stop it, bandage it or cure it.  Don’t spend your time running around looking for a remedy that will help you to restore what was, that will allow you to move yourself back into the place that you were before, back into that space that felt safe, familiar and comfortable to you.

You don’t belong there anymore.

Just let it be.  Allow yourself to feel the unease, to feel the tension, to feel the discomfort that comes from being in a place that doesn’t fit.  Allow it to inspire within you a desire to move forward, from where you are now to someplace new, to someplace larger, more spacious and wide open.

And then when that inspiration strikes Dear One, when you see an opportunity that will allow you to move ahead instead of back, take it.

Yes, sometimes you hurt because you are injured and you need to retreat, rest, and allow what was to be restored.

But only you can know for sure Dear One, if now is really one of those times.

Contrary to popular belief Dear One, a promise is not actually something that you make to another person.

A promise is and only can be something that you make to yourself.

It is a commitment, an assurance that you make to you.

You can share a promise out loud if you want to. You can tell those around you what you intend to do. You can intimately share it with one person or you can enthusiastically share it with a group of people.

But, if you don’t recognize and truly understand right from the start that promises are only something that you can make to yourself, then you will almost always certainly fail at keeping them.

If you are not already doing so Dear One, smile, right now.

If you can’t think of a reason why you should, smile anyway.

Why?

Because it’s the best and quickest way for you to attract a reason to you.

That’s why.  :)

Before you do anything else today Dear One, stop and take a minute to stop and think about the stories that you tell, that you have been telling, to yourself, and to everyone around you, about your life, about your work, about your relationships, about your health, about your wealth, about what’s possible, about what’s not, etc.

• Have they been positive or negative, optimistic or pessimistic, comedies or tragedies? Are they fact or fiction?  Are they from the heart or from the head? Do they create an expectation of a happy ending or an unhappy one?

Then take notice of what has been showing up for you lately; in your work, in your relationships, in your physical body, in your environment, etc.

If you like what you see, if you are pleased with what is coming your way, great!  Keep right on telling the same kinds of stories that you have been telling.

But, if that is not the case Dear One, if what is showing up for you is not what you were hoping for, then it may be time for you to start telling new ones.

Just something to think about.

We are right here Dear One, with you, all the time – whether you believe it or not, whether you feel it or not, whether you choose to acknowledge our presence in your life or not.

We are with you, always.

And nothing is ever going to change that.

The time for believing yourself to be weak, incapable, powerless, unworthy, unimportant, unoriginal, or anything less than you really are, is so over Dear One.