Wednesday, 09 September 2009
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Busy Busy
Been a very hectic week and not sure where all the time has gone too. My first garage sale is this weekend - Saturday. There has been a lot of family stuff going on which has been difficult but there may be good news on the horizon soon. For those who pray then now would be a good time. Especially for my dad - his name is Gordon. God knows his issues so if you can just remember my dad to God that would be great.
I have been thinking a lot lately about self discipline. As I have been practising 'the simple life' this has come under my scrutiny more and more. It effects everything from our money to our health. I need eight hours sleep at night but lately I have been staying up to watch Desperate Housewives and then Law and Order Special Victims (Its on Monday to Thursday in South Africa). At first it felt a lot like Christmas - two of my favourite programs on every night. Anyway the next day I am tired - I get up later, don't prepare lunch and make a proper breakfast. Then I feel hungry - and am more likely to eat bad things. Anyway I have formulated a tip from this.
Tip No 7 - Keep your own rules - if you don't have any then start setting some
Now I am not talking about being boring and never having a spontaneous moment again - I am just saying generally. I need to go to bed at ten at night. I need to cook a decent meal (means with vegetables) at least every second night. I need to exercise at least three times a week. I need to clean out the filter on the washing machine and defrost the fridge. As my gran used to say "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure". Cure is usually expensive and time consuming. So think about your life and make some decisions. How many hours sleep do I need? Decide to have only four blocks of chocolate or one glass of wine (or in my case coke). That way you save money and you don't gain weight and you have something to look forward to tomorrow.
If you need some incentive then make yourself a wall chart, like when you were in grade school, where you give yourself a star for each discipline that you do. When you get two stars reward yourself. This may sound infantile but it actaully works.
What discipline can you work on?
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Comments (10)
Diet and exercise. It's always an issue.
You have a good entry today that we all can use some improvement in! Mine is the exercise, as weather cut it out the past week and with school now back in session I have to make it a priority to be done before the picking up at school and dropping off for games, etc.
With less money I have been able to still fix good meals but it literally leaves no extra for anything other than basics so I am still looking for another job.
I do best on 6 to 6-1/2 hours sleep. If I get 8 I feel like I am too slow. I will stay up till 12:30 the Fri. night at times as Sat. is my last day to work for the week.
My biggest thing is to not feel bad because I have less money to give to charities than when I was making more money. It is sad to say but in America you have people who only give 2% of their income to church, IF they go, let alone giving to charities! This is another reason I would like to find a better paying job as some of the charities in my area are really suffering due to a big drop in giving.
Discipline - the instant willing obedience to orders and respect for authority, Sir. The marine corps drill that definition into me. Set you rules and obey them willingly.
Organization is something that I have been working on these past two weeks. Especially at the start of a new school year, I feel the need to have everything in its place so I can start new things or work on the things that I've been wanting to finish instead of always feeling like I'm just catching up. We've thrown out about 5 garbage bags full of junk, sent 4 garbage bags to the local second hand store, and 3 bags to the recyclers. It just feels so much better. And I'm exercising regularly too again : )
For me, I need to clean up my place on a regular basis haha. Laziness can just get the better of me
Thanks for sharing. Sure is food for thoughts. Oh ya, thanks for recommending my post Think Again 
This was a wonderful entry....hope you discipline yourself to write often on Xanga. A life of simplicity is a worthy cause with much reward if one's mindset is right. If there is a discipline I am lacking then it is probably my office space at my house that needs attention. It is the one place where clutter naturally accumulate.
Dear Tess,
Thank you so much for paying me a visit on my blog and leaving a comment. Also thank you for subscribing, and for recommending my entry.( I hope I caught everything.)
I will keep your father Gordon in my prayers. Neat that you are in South Africa. I love the fact that I can get to know so many people outside of the U.S. here on Xanga. (Some of the U.S. bloggers tend to forget there's a whole world out there, too.) Jurgens (Zeal4living), whom I see commented above, is one of my oldest and dearest Xanga friends.
I'm a very disciplined person, but I can be frivolous at times as well. Lately, I've had to be more frugal than ever before, both with money and time. There is one thing that saves me from "needing" to stay up past my bedtime. (which is from 9 to 10. I get up at 4:30 in the morning, and have the keys to our workplace, which I open at 6am.) I have been using a DVR (digital video recorder) since they were invented in the late 90s. It's like a tape deck, except it records on a hard drive, like a computer. I got my present one from my satellite televison provider, DirecTV, for a couple hundred bucks. I just highlight the televsion shows I want to watch, and it queues them up on the hard drive. I think I have six TV shows from the last week I haven't watched yet. During my liesure time on weekends, I can take the time to view whatever I want.
Even though I'm a guy, I still enjoy Desperate Housewives, and have been keeping up with this show for years, but I don't think I ever watch it when it airs, cause where I am, it is shown at 9pm on Sunday nights, and I'm usually in bed by that time, so I just watch it Monday when I get home from work.
If they have DVRs in South Africa, it might be something to look into. (You can also freeze frame "live TV" so you don't miss anything when going to the bathroom.
The wall chart idea is a good one.
I just got back from the hospital after having hip revsion surgery in early June. As part of the rehabilitation, I had to do physical therapy exercises. I've kept those up, even after healing, and have added sit ups and other exercises to the mix, so I'm now "used" to doing daily exercise.
Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool
Good post. I think i need to discipline myself in areas of diet, exercise and sticking to my schedule - which can run haywire often as i now work as a freelance consultant, so some discipline is needed there.
Prayed for your dad. May God bless him with good health, and fill Him with His peace.
Blessings
Sunny
I have my own rules, but I don't always stick to them. See, I'm a flexible although I can be an annoying perfectionist.
I think I'll try your wall chart system. I need increased self discipline in many areas of my life.