Discipline

"Without discipline, there is no life at all." Katherine Hepburn.

It seems to me that the word, discipline, is sorely misunderstood.  Some adults use punitive measures with children or other adults and call that discipline.  It is not.  I once read that the root word of discipline is disciple, which means to teach and lead.  That is the type of discipline we can implement in our role as caregiver.  Teach, guide, model the behavior we want; and set up the environment to support the behavior we want.  Discipline is also a term we can apply to ourselves, and that is what Katherine Hepburn seemed to mean.  We can have the discipline to always be kind, to eat foods which are good for us, to exercise. 

With others and with ourselves let us celebrate and implement good discipline, and let us be grateful for the results.  Discipline, rightly done, does produce results -- of that we can be certain.