Salvation through discipline

I think a lack of discipline is what is causing many of the problems facing the US and its citizenry.  Since I'm not yet Lord of the Universe, I'm going to need to lead by example.

I've broken discipline down into four categories:

• mental - I will find alternatives to TV watching and I will not give up on something because it's too hard or challenging.  I will also focus on wanting less.  I have plenty and need to be satisfied with what I have.
• physical - I will continue to exercise daily and I will stay away from sugar, gluten/wheat and processed foods.
• emotional - I will keep my temper in check and be more forgiving of the mistakes of others.  I can still desire perfection, but I should do a better job of handling failure.
• financial - I will buy only what I need and will focus on getting and staying out of debt.  I will need to make some hard choices given my limited resources.

I put some of these categories into action yesterday, which was one of my most productive days in a long time. I woke up, did my P90X workout, checked on work, started a load of laundry, went over to Lowe's to get supplies, rehung the curtain rods in my bedroom, went to the grocery store, went to another hardware store to get rope caulk, caulked up some of my bedroom windows, did my German lesson, made red lentil curry for dinner, checked on work, etc.  Maybe I just described your typical Saturday, but I didn't stop moving until dinner.  I then made some banana bread without wheat (I used almond flour and brown rice flour) and watched the first half of the terminally boring LSU-Alabama game.

I had been putting off fixing the curtain rods so I had good mental discipline in getting some things around the house done.  I had financial discipline at Lowe's and only got what I came for.  It's like a candy store for me and I was seriously tempted to get a new electric drill and rotary saw, but I got the drill bit set instead since my current drill is good enough for the drilling I do.

This morning, I got up early, did my P90X workout, checked on work and then brushed the driveway and deck.  I also collected some kindling since it's starting to get cold.  Before lunch, I'll start getting some of the ash out of the fireplace.  None of this stuff is all that exciting, but I need to work hard at being active at home.  I work pretty long hours at work, but that doesn't mean I should laze away the weekend.  Some of the stuff I did was actually pretty relaxing.

I think having this kind of structure, the discipline of discipline if you will, will be good for me.