A lifelong marathon.
I am someone that is intrinsically motivated by self-discipline. I love it. I get off on it. I want to see it in me, and I savor it in other people. My obsession with it probably stems from the fact that I am a lazy, floppy and chronically sleepy person.
Today as I was doing my bible reading, I looked at the date that I had scribbled on the top right hand corner of my notebook and saw 8/10/2012. I then proceeded to flip backwards to see how many consecutive days of bible reading have I managed thus far. 21 days. A little bubble of self-satisfaction was starting to emerge in me, when the phrase "A lifelong marathon" popped into my head, and squashed it. I made it 21 days. I have tens of thousands to go.
For tens of thousands of days to come, I would have to make the right choices to engage in good, healthy and godly behavior such as working, running, eating right, sleeping well, going to church and being nice. Just the thought of it is enough to make me want to crawl back under my covers. However, there is a little glimmer of light on the horizon. All of these things take a conscious effort to maintain right now, but our brains are much too clever to put us through such arduous pain for long.
- Automaticity is the result of learning, repetition and practice. It is the ability to do things without occupying the higher functioning of our mind. It is the miraculous stage when self-control turns into habit. -
I believe that we are all running a lifelong marathon. It takes conscious effort, self-discipline and self-love to continue running. There is no reward without struggle. No fit body without exercise, no knowledge gained without studying and no growth in god without first knowing his word. However it does get easier as we go along. With learning, repetition and practice, making the right choices become habitual and less effort is expended on struggling between choices. Getting good at something brings a sense of fulfillment and self-efficacy which reinforces the behavior.
Maybe a few hundred more days would get me there. ;)
P.S.
I came across this phrase in my cousin's fitness blog the other day. To credit him a little, here is the link to his page. http://www.edwinchew.com/readmore.php?id=106
I am someone that is intrinsically motivated by self-discipline. I love it. I get off on it. I want to see it in me, and I savor it in other people. My obsession with it probably stems from the fact that I am a lazy, floppy and chronically sleepy person.
Today as I was doing my bible reading, I looked at the date that I had scribbled on the top right hand corner of my notebook and saw 8/10/2012. I then proceeded to flip backwards to see how many consecutive days of bible reading have I managed thus far. 21 days. A little bubble of self-satisfaction was starting to emerge in me, when the phrase "A lifelong marathon" popped into my head, and squashed it. I made it 21 days. I have tens of thousands to go.
For tens of thousands of days to come, I would have to make the right choices to engage in good, healthy and godly behavior such as working, running, eating right, sleeping well, going to church and being nice. Just the thought of it is enough to make me want to crawl back under my covers. However, there is a little glimmer of light on the horizon. All of these things take a conscious effort to maintain right now, but our brains are much too clever to put us through such arduous pain for long.
- Automaticity is the result of learning, repetition and practice. It is the ability to do things without occupying the higher functioning of our mind. It is the miraculous stage when self-control turns into habit. -
I believe that we are all running a lifelong marathon. It takes conscious effort, self-discipline and self-love to continue running. There is no reward without struggle. No fit body without exercise, no knowledge gained without studying and no growth in god without first knowing his word. However it does get easier as we go along. With learning, repetition and practice, making the right choices become habitual and less effort is expended on struggling between choices. Getting good at something brings a sense of fulfillment and self-efficacy which reinforces the behavior.
Maybe a few hundred more days would get me there. ;)
P.S.
I came across this phrase in my cousin's fitness blog the other day. To credit him a little, here is the link to his page. http://www.edwinchew.com/readmore.php?id=106
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