Week 9-"Discipline"

[dis-uh-plin]

activity, exercise, or a regimen that develops or improves a skill; training.

a set or system of rules and regulations

The Wednesday after Quinquagesima Sunday, which is the first day of the Lenten fast. Lent is a time when many Christians prepare for Easter by observing a period of fasting, repentance, moderation and spiritual discipline.

Last night while listening to the pastor during the service the word that was used over and over was not “fasting”, “repentance” or even “moderation” which are all common words during in the Christian faith not only during the next 40 forty days. The word that stuck out to me was, “discipline”.

During this time leading up to Easter, Christians make a pledge to give up an indulgence if it is, candy, soda, chocolate, alcohol or whatever is a weakness they feel is in their lives they give it up.

For me, it has always been the same as well. I have given up desserts, soda, red meat (did not like this one too much) and last year it was swearing. I have always been able to maintain my commitment, but last year’s discipline is one that has stuck even to this day.

Now, let us be real. We all swear. However, I am confident to state that I very rarely swear and using the “nasty” words have been stricken from my vocabulary. There have been times; smack your finger with a hammer, drop a can on your toe or even when driving (alone) you say a few choice words to the vehicular inept person that just cut you off. It takes discipline not to use these words when in some circles when they have become socially acceptable?

Discipline. “A regiment that develops or improves skills”. With the discipline of refraining from swearing I know I have improved myself to be a better person, father and husband. Who wants their 13-year-old daughter using the F word, S word or any other word in public? "When we were young" (my kids roll their eyes at this statement) the slip of the tongue used to provoke a back hand from your mother across your cheek which was well deserved.

Over the last 16 ½ hours since listening to the sermon on discipline and moderation , I have been witness to conviction and how building a set of rules in life for yourself will improve you and the people around you.

First was my 9-year-old daughter. At the church dinner last night, she stated to her family that for the next 40 days she was going to give up television and the computer. These are two things she enjoys (a little too much) and this is going to be a huge sacrifice she is making to improve herself. I witnessed her devotion last night as she spent 1 hour reading instead of her regular 30 minutes which has already been positive. This act makes me proud of her and her dedication.

Last night during the Olympics, Shani Davis became the first Olympian to win back-to-back Gold medals in the 1,000M speed skating event. During his Gold metal event, the broadcaster used the word, "discipline" repeatedly. Through Davis’s regiment and system of rules he has set for himself he improved himself over all others to make history and inspiring future speed track Olympians.

This morning, I witnessed an act of lack of discipline during the Master’s Swim Workout. The workout was:

300M EZ
3 X 100M I.M.
150M Kick-No Fins
200M Side Kick w/Fins
200M One Arm (100M) w/Fins
200M Catch-up w/Fins
3 X 100M All out. 30 second R.I. on the wall
3 X 200M on the 3:30’s
2 X 400M on the 6:50’s
3 X 200M on the 3:30’s
3 X 100M All out. 30 second R.I. on the wall
150 Form Swim
200M Kick

The “meat” of the workout was the interval times. I was in Lane 1 with 2 other swimmers for this mornings beating. When we started the first set of 100’s Swimmer 1 took off out of the gate way too fast. All out is, All out, but seeing what was ahead of us, I held back just a tad not to blow myself up for the rest of the workout. Swimmer 1 did not. The next 100M, he was spent. By the last 100M in the set, I lapped him.

This happened in the 200M set with Swimmer 2. Out of the blocks, too fast. By the time we hit the wall at 3:04 he was done. Nothing left in the tank. I quickly gave him a pointer to pace himself, these are not all out attempts, but it was a little too late for Swimmer 2. I took the lead on the rest of the “meat” set as both Swimmer 1 & 2 fell off or did not finish the sets.

During this intense workout, I knew what time I needed to hit the wall at to give me enough rest before the next set, so I maintained my stroke and composure while coming in on the 200’s (both sets) at 3:05, the 400M’s at 6:20’s and on the final all outs, being tired and knowing I had a hard 18 mile run tomorrow I held 1:31’s. This was 10 seconds slower than the first set of 100’s, but setting the rule in my mind I was able to complete the whole workout without compromising on the distance.

The last bit of acts of discipline I witness was talking with Chris and Hokan in the hot tub. In the early fall Chris met with Michelle to go over his food intake and set him up on a plan to ensure he was taking in enough “good” calories during the day. In Mid-February, Chris is still on track.

With most of you, you are athletes. With being an athlete you need to enact a level of discipline into your life on a daily basis. The times you wake up, the amount of mileage you put in, the amount of weight you lift and the amount of food or kind of food you eat. All activities of using discipline to improve your skills.

Just think about if you took some of your dedication of disciplining yourself in your training and applied an additional 1 percent into acts of kindness or compassion towards your fellow man? I am not coming down on anyone or stating that you don’t already do this, that is not what I am driving. We all are caring beings by nature, but in a fast paced, "me, me, me", “what have you done for ME lately” disposable world we live in if we just slowed down to see our environment around us we may be able to use some of our untapped energy for good.

This leads me to my discipline for Ash Wednesday . When thinking of moderation or giving up, I am so head strung that I can do anything. Give up beer? Sure! Give up red meat? No problem. Disciplines come easy to me, because I hate to fail. These kinds of sacrifices are short lived though. After 40 days, I would drink beer and eat a 16oz Rib Eye Easter morning for breakfast.

So, my quest was to not focus on giving something up, but to give something in return. Just like my act of giving up the foul language, to start down a path that will last a lifetime is more meaningful than a 40-day commitment.

I am realist. I looked at what is obtainable and not try to “shoot for the moon”. I never sell myself short, but look at what I can accomplish and push myself to achieve. So, I have decided to be a bit broad and go with acts of kindness and caring. In a busy world, we are always rushing to get here and to get there. We focus on the now, we focus on the negative and we focus on…ourselves.

I am going to slow down and witness the world that is spinning under our feet and if there is someone in distress, I will act instead of watch. I will be more patient with mankind, since we are not perfect. An example was what transpired in the pool this morning. The acts of poor discipline on my fellow swimmers caused a ripple in my own workout. But, instead of getting upset or chewing them out, I gave some advice and rolled with it to have a positive effect not only on them but on me. The result of this has been a pleasant day for any one who comes in contact with me. Get it?

I will be swimming with these athletes every Tuesday and Thursday. What better way to make the swims better for all than to have the patience and time to help them develop?

The journey has begun and I will continue lending more support and help to my friends and strangers with "stuff" that may take me away from what I want to do.

I know it is wide open, but if I devote one minute of my time to someone else then it may be contagious and spread.

My daughter who is only 9 is giving up her “drug” cold turkey as of 5PM last night. She is human and will slip from her set goal for the next 40, but when she does, I will be supportive of her in her goals and there for her. I am much older than my daughter is and I too am human and will slip from the discipline. With a constant regiment and rules to live by along with the support of people around me, who knows what will come of this…Maybe it will be an infectious disease.