When I was involved in weight training, the first thing I noticed was how discipline applied in one area spills over into other areas of life. I lifted daily, my body responded by taking shape and definition, but my life also took a more precise, defined shape and definition. Clutter and excess gave way to order. Time management emerged out of a more spontaneous “if I feel like it” approach. Life became more focused, intense, lived with purpose and precision.
Our lives are circular in that one action, in this case DISCIPLINE, sends ripples out to impact the next levels with the same vibration. Applying the discipline to show up for workouts, to push through the mounting discomfort of muscles that burn, then reach “failure”, which in the weight lifting world is the goal, is hard. Discipline is exactly what it takes to achieve that.
Now that Donn and I have added the discipline of meeting in our shared office at 6:15 a.m. to watch the markets online and trade- simulated for the time being- we see the effects of this self regulation on all other areas of our lives. You’d think that by adding more tasks that are time consuming, other areas of our already busy schedule would suffer. But the exact opposite effect is evident here at Adytum, The Sanctuary.
The land is finally taking shape, weeds giving way to cultivated plants and trees. Whole hillsides turning into seasonal rain ponds with winding stone streambeds lined with sub Alpine fir, ferns and azaleas. Last year’s invasive canary grass and Himalayan blackberries have given way to persistent mowing and with no chemicals! (That takes discipline to choose the course of integrity vs. the quick fix) The Koi pond’s potential, seemingly stagnant for so long, is finally emerging under the care of several people who work long and hard to shape its natural beauty into greater order and freedom from weeds and the ever present grass.
Why is this finally coming together now, I wonder? We’ve been praying the same prayer all the way through this project as we strive to get Adytum ready for her advent as Spa and Healing Retreat. “Lord, please send us all the help we need.” Now we have three helping consistently to bring our vision into grounded reality. Ryan gardens, Sarah and Sammi help him and are also responsible for the house. Donn and I work wherever we are needed.
Somewhere along the way, a critical mass formed and Adytum pushes hard, like our new grandson Alexander Kumar, striving to end gestation and experience true birth. We five workers are midwives to the land. Her potential has moved from the realm of vision and dream and is grounding itself fully in reality. Discipline has everything to do with it.
Adding trading to an already impossibly full schedule here and at our office has created an intense, disciplined synergy among the ripples of our lives here at the Sanctuary. Each area radiating outward from the Center is experiencing a heightened discipline: our eating and exercise habits continue to be refined to ever higher levels for maximum health and anti-aging, our spiritual commitment strengthening… Adytum is being brought into greater order in all her nooks and crannies and now even the fifteen wild acres are reflecting care, sculpting and incredible beauty. Our offices runs more efficiently and our businesses tighter. Discipline is at the root of it all.
Time is possibly just a grand illusion. The more we do in our days, the more time expands to accommodate the tasks we are truly passionate about and committed to. There is no separation in our days, no compartmentalizing. The discipline of spending hours studying trading, then in showing up every morning for hours to trade, training our minds to think like traders is simultaneously tightening up our bodies, our spirits, our home and land. Discipline is worth focusing on; and we know that what we focus on expands….
Some people regard discipline as a chore. For me, it is a kind of order that sets me free to fly. ~ Julie Andrews
The truly free person in society is a disciplined person. ~ Dean Smith
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