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version seven. http://demongin.org |
Discipline (con't)
Classic Gin
Tuesday, 2006-02-07 | Classic Gin
Anyone can tell you that the only true tests of a person's self-discipline occur when he's left to his own devices.
Without obligation, without consequence--bereft of meaningful engagement with the things and people of this life--what a man does when he's not beholden to anyone or anything says more about him than how well he deals with the pressure of deadlines, expectations, etc. All of which is not to say that these things are meaningless, for they are certainly good measures of certain aspects of a man's character, but they say little about how much discipline he is able to exert on himself.
Consider a body builder stranded on a desert island who expects never to be rescued. Does he chin himself 200 times daily on low hanging branches and hurl rocks in order to prevent his muscles from withering?
It is helpful, in life, to remember that there will almost never be a time when we are completely bereft of all responsibilities and obligations. Even the guy at the top--presidents, kings, Olympians--is beholden to some_one or some_thing in some way.
In the course of the average life--the life that is untroubled by shipwrecks, wars and other disasters--an individual with at least some small modicum of luck might never find his sense of self-discipline tested.
But then again, there are no guarantees. Without warning, the Earthshaker could easily break your ship, that baleful god of war could lead his paramours Strife and Terror directly to your doorstep or you could find yourself the victim of some other god's capricious designs.
And then how will you behave? Will you behave at all?
