Day Seventy

RHYTHMS OF DISCIPLINE

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

—HEBREWS 12:11 ESV

I decided to run a half marathon one spring several years ago. It was a ridiculous decision. I don’t like running.

I signed up, paid my money, and booked my flight to Florida and was immediately full of regret. But the other girls doing it with me—Blair, Katie, and Emily—had signed up, paid, and booked as well, so there was no backing out.

I downloaded a training program to my iPhone the fall before the race and decided I would spend six months really training for this half marathon.

I didn’t.

So by the time March rolled around and we were packing for the weekend, I had jogged approximately three miles in my training.

And I was about to attempt thirteen. And one-tenth.

After more than three and a half hours, I crossed that finish line. Only three gift packs remained on the table, and in the official standings of thousands of racers, I finished next to last.

Three grandmas walking finished in front of me.

The next week was the most painful week of my life. Every muscle hurt. Every. Single. One. I walked like I had just ridden a horse from Maine to that very Florida beach. I pretty much just wanted to lie on the floor like a starfish, with an IV of ibuprofen for two or ten days.

Discipline is the work done on the practice field so you are ready for the big game.

My lack of training—and lack of discipline—really came back to haunt me after that race.

I could have done better in that race, dealt with less pain, and possibly been willing to attempt another race of that distance had I actually trained.

Discipline has always felt like rules to me, and even though I’m a natural-born rule follower, when I’m the one making the rules and trying to keep them, it’s not as natural. The truth is that discipline isn’t rules you have to live by or laws you have to obey. Discipline is the work done on the practice field so you are ready for the big game.

What does that discipline look like? I don’t know for you. I just know that I often like to label discipline as something boring and unnecessary when really, if you want to be brave and be ready to be called into the game, you have to practice.

Your discipline, the rhythm that makes you the best you—whether it’s training your body, your mind, or your spirit—shows up when it is time to say the right thing, do the right thing, be the brave person you want to be. It’s the practice that makes perfect, and the practice that makes you brave.

BE BRAVE: What’s one area of your life where you could be more disciplined?