Thanks to my friend (and fellow-blogger!) Jennifer for the tip on where to find stuff to make my blog pretty. After all, if I'm going to be out here for the next year, it should be pretty, right?
In case anyone is wondering why I chose a Butterfly theme, here's the scoop. Not only is the butterfly the symbol of the jewelry company I work for (www.liasophia.com/merlebellot) but it means a lot more to me than that. In fact, it really goes to the heart of discipline. For me, discipline is doing the hard things that no one wants to do to be able to experience the awesome things that very few people ever do.
The little butterfly knows about this. Did you know that the very thing that allows the butterfly to fly is their struggle? When the butterfly is in the cocoon, it begins to beat its wings like crazy. If you "take mercy" on the butterfly and cut open the cocoon before its ready, you actually do the butterfly a grave disservice. You rob it of the struggle that gives it strength. Without struggle, there is no strength. But once that little butterfly has spent the right amount of time in the cocoon, it has everything it needs to take flight.
I think that's probably what the Lord was talking about too in James 1:2-4 (Message version - my favorite!).
"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way."
I want to take my cue from the butterfly and be willing to push through hard places so I can too can soar. That's what discipline means to me. And that's why it is worth it.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The "D" word
So what is all this about? I'm glad you asked (whoever "you" are - I'm not going to be surprised if I'm talking to myself here). This time last year a friend of mine and I were talking about New Year's resolutions (for me AKA a sure set-up for frustration and failure). She had heard of an idea that really made sense to me. The idea was that instead of making new year's resolutions that you would choose one word - one word that would guide your steps for the year ahead. Well I decided to give it a shot and to my surprise, it really worked. My word for 2009 was "invest" - it was an awesome year of investing into my business, into my team, into charitable giving - and looking back on the year, the returns have been overwhelming.
So I've decided I like this "word for the year" thing and started praying about the word for 2010 and guess what word dropped into my heart - Discipline. The "D" word. Really, discipline? I could get excited about "Invest" but "Discipline" - I think I'd like to trade in my tiles and make a new word please.
Then I had a thought - what if discipline is more than just what I would have to give up? What could be gained? So I went to my generation's version of the dictionary (www.dictionary.com) to dig a little deeper and here is what surprised me the most - the antonyms for discipline. They are...
chaos, confusion, disorder, disorganization, neglect, negligence, permissiveness
Suddenly this discipline stuff started to sound a lot more like freedom...margin...open spaces... and less like me kicking and screaming my way to the gym. (HA HA - like I've been to the gym lately!) This might actually be me investing in me - maybe this is a way to build on last year's word.
So after some thought and prayer, here is how my word for the year is going to work. Since the word IS discipline, I'm thinking I should not only focus on areas where I need to cultivate some but also come up with some built-in accountability and that's where YOU come in. You are my virtual accountability partner. My hope is that you will participate and contribute wherever you can. I want to share ideas, successes and even the failures in our attempts to be more disciplined.
My plan is to focus each month on a new area of discipline - if it takes 21 days to make a habit, I figure a month of focus per area should be a good start. So look for discipline focus #1 next week. Here we go!!!
So I've decided I like this "word for the year" thing and started praying about the word for 2010 and guess what word dropped into my heart - Discipline. The "D" word. Really, discipline? I could get excited about "Invest" but "Discipline" - I think I'd like to trade in my tiles and make a new word please.
Then I had a thought - what if discipline is more than just what I would have to give up? What could be gained? So I went to my generation's version of the dictionary (www.dictionary.com) to dig a little deeper and here is what surprised me the most - the antonyms for discipline. They are...
chaos, confusion, disorder, disorganization, neglect, negligence, permissiveness
Suddenly this discipline stuff started to sound a lot more like freedom...margin...open spaces... and less like me kicking and screaming my way to the gym. (HA HA - like I've been to the gym lately!) This might actually be me investing in me - maybe this is a way to build on last year's word.
So after some thought and prayer, here is how my word for the year is going to work. Since the word IS discipline, I'm thinking I should not only focus on areas where I need to cultivate some but also come up with some built-in accountability and that's where YOU come in. You are my virtual accountability partner. My hope is that you will participate and contribute wherever you can. I want to share ideas, successes and even the failures in our attempts to be more disciplined.
My plan is to focus each month on a new area of discipline - if it takes 21 days to make a habit, I figure a month of focus per area should be a good start. So look for discipline focus #1 next week. Here we go!!!
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