A friend of mine shared this mantra on her Facebook wall a couple of weeks ago, and I haven’t been able to get it out of my head:
“Keep doing the hard things until the hard things become the easy things.”
Isn’t that the essence of discipline? Choose to do the hard things — even when you don’t feel like it — and eventually, you’ll develop habits so that those things are no longer a struggle.
I think about it when I’m tempted to skip evening devotions with the girls when I’d rather put the clean laundry in a basket to fold later, when I’d rather do anything than cook dinner or when the book I’m reading is calling my name while my to-do list is still a mile long.
And you know what? It’s not just some trite saying; it’s true.
Since I made a personal commitment earlier this summer to develop better discipline and began attacking one area at a time through our Family Boot Camp, I’ve seen progress. Not perfect progress, of course, and if I’m sure of one thing, I will never be perfect. But each time I choose to do the hard thing, it gets just a little bit easier!
What hard things do you need to practice doing?