Yoke of disciple-Power to infinite self

As I was looking to end my quest for inner self, I landed on the book "Infinite Self: 33 Steps to Reclaiming Your Inner Power."
In this book, it talks about attaining spiritual growth, which shows the wave-like motion of excited energy followed by resting energy. Inspiration from hymns, sermons, or books is borrowed. Elevating oneself demands discipline and continuous self-improvement. Achievement isn't finite; embracing the infinite self is ongoing, sustaining higher levels endlessly. This perpetual journey ensures sustained growth, nurturing the self indefinitely at elevated states. So in this section, I will talk about discipline.

Discipline gives you real power.
a) Know yourself

The chapter of discipline was difficult for me, but that made me discover myself best. My life became better when I started to know myself better than others knew me. This discipline was necessary.

As a child, I remember spending time in bed doing nothing for a long and I used to like that so much. But in those idle moments, I was just wasting on nothing, so when I had stressful situations, I used to get tensed a lot, wasting much of my energy. This was the time when a turn-over took place in my life. Yes, the move was through religion, but the discovery was totally about me. At this point in my life, my mouth was full of negative words, and I felt that saying them showed me to be more complacent. This religious move in my life made me read my holy book diligently. As I went through this book and met like-minded people, I found that I was practicing something wrong. The scripture says,

"The words we speak can inspire and encourage others while, in the same sentence, deflate and discourage." (Bible|Proverb 18:21)

The above scripture shows how powerful our words are. With these words, I can encourage others or discourage them. The point is for what purpose I am using my words. In this context, I happened to hear and read Joyce Meyer's sermons and books. She speaks a lot about how we use the wrong words and expect good things to happen. Is it possible? Let me give you an example. I went to my locker and put the wrong code. Will the vault open? The answer is no. It will open only with the right password, or it might get locked forever. The same thing happens with our words when we use the wrong words to describe ourselves and expect good. This is the reason that much of our blessings are locked. This was my first lesson to discipline myself in order to reap success and greatness.

Starting was not at all easy. I started to observe that I was never saying anything good about myself. I used to say, "I cannot do these things; this post is not for me; fate is not so favorable to me." I have to consciously induce myself to speak well when my mouth utters negative words. It really took me time, but this gave me a different look at myself. Now, I was able to see myself as more confident and accomplished, and that gave me new strength to achieve my goals. This was just one thing that changed my life. Like this, there are numerous discoveries I made about myself that called for correction. I accepted them all and corrected and improved myself.

All these things happened because of one move, i.e., to discipline myself to invest a little time in myself every day. When I was in school, I used to give 2-3 hours because I had time, but as I entered my career, I could not invest that much time. I did not give up here, submitting to the demands of busy life and social prestige and status. I had reached the point in my life where I had to spend some quiet time talking to myself, listening to my needs, and admiring myself. With my job, it was not easy, but I never gave up.

After doing this and seeing the good results, I realized for the first time that I was running a race without a goal. I was following what others were doing; I was trying to maintain their standards as my own; I was living others lives in my body. I was running a mad race at others pace, and that was making me feel exhausted and drained out. I was busy searching for what others did and setting standards for myself. I was something like a free-size dress on a lean and thin girl. So, my life was out of order.

I was constantly looking for other people's standards, so I was familiar with them. It was not working for me because it was not based on my caliber and capacity. How will I know my standards when I have never labored to see myself?

b) Cleanliness around

This has profound meaning in my life. Since I do my household chores myself, I can feel the difference a lot. Cleanliness around you makes you feel organized and gives us positive energy. A tired mind is reflected in your surroundings. If, from inside, you are feeling good, whatever happens, we manage to take time to clean our environment and feel more good.

At times, because of work, I could not give ample time to my chores, and that always sucks me. Until I developed the habit of keeping my surroundings clean, I could not differentiate between what made me happy and what made me sick. As I started to observe myself, I realized that I feel irritated if my house is not clean. I found that I could not concentrate well on my work if my house was not clean. So, however late I was greeting for my job, I would first clean my house, and then all happened as if I had aligned them in order. I have observed this many times. These self-realizations made me nurture and maintain my discipline of cleanliness.

Apart from these, I have found many more disciplines that work for me. I was always an early riser from childhood. I still continue. When I was not working, I still used to get up early and write poems, focusing on myself. When I don't get up early, my whole day goes lazy, which I don't like. Similarly, I also developed the habit of walking in the morning with my mother, and the cool breezes of the morning are really relaxing for me. I also started focusing on my body. So, I exercise. I like doing them, but they are still under development for me. I often give up because of work pressure or some body issues.

The point of describing all these things is to bring "stillness to oneself." I remember the dialogue of "3 idiots": 'Life is a race, agar tez nahi bhagoge to koi tumhe kuchal kar aage nikal jayega...' We have also enrolled ourselves in this race, only forgetting stillness, which has so much power. Discipline is the best way to bring back this stillness. There are many disciplines we have to acquire in our lives, a few of which I have mentioned above.

Physical discipline

This discipline introduces you to the infinity that lies within your physical body.

At this moment in my life, I can see how well I execute my literature reviews in research. This did not happen overnight. Today, when I sit and review my life, I come to that place in my past where I had a desire to contribute something to society, but then I go to a field where I see nothing near this that could ever happen in my life. All those fruitless years (which I always considered them) were the years when I was developing my patience, my sincerity towards my work, and my dedication to making things happen. Those were the years when I learned to see myself as capable of accomplishing things. Without physical hardship and learning to handle every situation on my own, my dream of contributing to society could never materialize.

All of these things were possible because I learned to understand my own needs and priorities. I learned to study myself and pick up clues that tell me about my soundness, my calmness, and my confidence. I also learned to know myself better. When we feel pain, swelling, and redness on the skin, we know there is something wrong within. Similarly, when our physical bodies are good, we can say what is troubling us and when we need to stop overindulging in those situations. Actually, we can reduce much of our unwanted stress in this way.

During this time, I also learned to nurture my body better. I was a mad achiever, and in my quest, I often did not give much attention to my food habits. When I started to focus on myself, I realized how much damage had already been done to my body. Then I started looking for the nutritional value of everything, and I changed to consuming a good, healthy diet. It took me some time, but now I try my best to have everything in my meal.

I remember my childhood days. I was very active and was always found in the fields playing, but as I grew, I forgot all these things. Only studies became important. I realized that both play and work are essential only when I joined the forces. They work insanely, and then they play all the games to relax and rejuvinate. I do exercise, but not regularly. I am still working on this.

I was never a fasting nerd, but in my initial days, I learned to control my hunger and fast for a meal. I have never done a whole-day fast. However, I have seen my friends practice a one-day khichidi meal. I liked this concept, and not sincerely, but at times I do put khichidi on my menu.

Emotional discipline

This topic took me to a new book, "Emotional Discipline: The Power to Choose How You Feel." Before I give the gist of the book, let me familiarize you with Aron Beck's concept. Emotional discipline involves making intentional choices in response to present challenges and future preparation, fostering self-improvement, and developing adaptable strategies that empower you to control your emotions. Practicing emotional discipline enhances current living, shapes a fulfilling future, and fosters a rejuvenating lifestyle, preventing burnout. It amplifies problem-solving abilities, enriches relationships, and nurtures personal growth effectively.

In order to be emotionally disciplined, we need to inculcate these qualities:

Embracing accountability for our emotions.
Engaging in present actions will fuel emotional reserves for the future.
Responding to emotional challenges in a balanced and healthy way.
Employing tailored strategies to adeptly tackle emerging challenges.

Steps for practicing emotional discipline:

Find the cause that has brought this emotion.
Find the location and intensity (in your body) of your physical reaction.
Identify the thoughts and beliefs (rumbling in your mind) associated with these emotions.
Part of us(Spirit) is revealed in the response we give to the current situation.
Make the choice of emotional discipline to deal constructively.

These steps reminded me of Aaron Beck's ABC model:

Our behavior is the outcome of our thoughts and beliefs that are triggered by our emotions. Hence, when we feel something, we should look for the thoughts and beliefs that are causing it.

Mental discipline

We are very good at this. I remember my early days when I wanted to know everything in my life. One revelation that I got was that you will go back to school again (this was after my 12th exams), and I was like, How is it possible? I will join a college. We want to know everything right now. This is not good. In my life, I found that knowing everything is not always good. So, we should not waste time trying to be clear. We should discipline ourselves to be content with what is being revealed to us at this moment.

Philosophical discipline

Philosophy is borrowed from the Greek word "philosophia," which means "philo" (love of) and "sophia(wisdom). In philosophical discipline, we look for wisdom—a wisdom that liberates us, one that works on reducing negative emotions and insecurities, one that doesn't control but joyously accepts disciplining oneself.

One of the disciplines of philosophy was psychology. So, as we discipline ourselves philosophically, we should try to understand why people act the way they act—why they do what they do. Just knowing ourselves is not enough; we also need to know others so that we can behave well with each other. If you closely look at our lives, many of the things that happen around us have a strong psychological base—the blame game we play, lying, fears, etc.—all affect how we interact with people. So, knowing psychology helps a lot. When things go wrong in my life, I have to intentionally take time to learn to read people and understand what is happening in my life. That helped me to survive.

Spiritual discipline

As I was looking for what spirituality means I landed up on this page which defined spirituality differently and I liked it. It says being spiritual means being strongly connected to oneself, to the Earth, and to all its inhabitants.

This means:

1. We should daily practice being kind to ourselves and others.

2. Have a grateful heart for all the things we have, for all the blessings, and for all that has made me.

3. Every day when we get up, we should invest in trying to give our best in whatever we are doing.

4. And above all, we should present ourselves as someone who could be of service to others who are in need.

Yes, this is what spirituality is, and to do all these things is not at all easy, so we need to discipline ourselves to achieve this spirituality. I was never like this, but when I started this in my life, my bitterness, my anger, and everything that was creating disbalance could no longer manipulate my life and control me. I don't say these things do not pop up, but with the help of spirituality, I can differentiate when they enter my life and what harm they can cause.

I chose this topic to discuss last because I have fallen for this path of discipline, and this has helped me discover myself.

I'm participating in #BlogchatterA2Z and hyperlink https://www.theblogchatter.com

Find my blogchatter A2Z 2024 series:

A- Arms of addiction

B- Babbling busyness

C- Cunning complacency and craving certaininty

D- Daring dreams(ambition)

E- Erratic ilk of arrogance

F- Fraudulent Forgetting

G- Gullible guilt and shame

H-Hankering Happiness pursuit

I- Infringes of information technology