Imagine how it would be if the SUN says “I am sleepy today I don’t want to rise, or I am not feeling up to it, let me take a day off?” Unthinkable! Chaos will reign supreme! Imagine the chaotic conditions that would prevail if planets, the trees, the animals, nature itself is not disciplined.
Just imagine our nose and heart saying we need rest for an hour. Can we live with it?
“While uneducated birds and beasts know how to lead regulated lives, Alas! Man endowed with intelligence, does not lead a disciplined life” – Satya Sai
Discipline means the observance of certain well-defined Rules. Without Discipline mankind will be ruined. Discipline is essential from the moment of opening our eyes the moment we are born to the last moment we give up breath. Discipline is a fine balance between providing a good learning process through effective dialogue so that the child can understand what is acceptable and what is not, setting firm limits/expectations and navigating through tricky issues.
There are two kinds of Discipline, external and internal. While external discipline is enforced, internal discipline is imposed from within. External discipline is when parents, teachers, society is constantly telling what needs to be done, Internal or Self-discipline is when the children are taking care of certain things without reminders! Understanding these two concepts can point your child in the right direction!
Self-discipline is the ability to get yourself to take action regardless of your emotional state. Self-discipline is defined as the ability to make yourself to do what you know you should do, when you should do it, whether you feel like it or not! The five pillars of self-discipline are: Acceptance, Willpower, Hard Work, Industry, and Persistence. If you take the first letter of each word, you get the acronym “A WHIP” — a convenient way to remember them, since many people associate self-discipline with whipping themselves into shape.
List all of your child’s responsibilities, including; school, home, extracurricular, and leisure. Place these responsibilities in order of importance and have a discussion on priorities. Just remember to stick to a fun routine so that it forms a habit and your child grows with the right attitude to be self-disciplined.
We are an International school that respects values. Our curriculum is International and built for all round development in the children. It is well defined to cover each and every aspect of child development. We believe that learning is continuous and there are no boundaries for learning.
Sir, you certainly hit the nail on the head by making the distinction between external and internal or self-discipline. And I think only when children or rather the adults dealing with them begin to realize the latter, it’s going to make a difference to their lives rather than the conventional way of pushing it down their throat. The proverb, you can take a horse to the water but cannot make it drink, rings very true when we talk of discipline.
You have very aptly highlighted self-discipline in this post. And when it comes from a col. people better stand up and take note.