Discipline

Most see discipline as  punishment.  Just like grounding, we have the wrong perspective and if you have the wrong perspective your magic will not work.  Grounding in magic is getting out and touching the earth.  Discipline in magic has nothing to do with punishment.  My coach on my High School basketball team used to tell a couple of guys that they have no discipline and unless they get it, they will never succeed.  Magic is the same way.  You must have discipline.  

The discipline I’m talking about is self-discipline.  We usually see discipline in this world as punishment because we live in a world of duality and polarity.  Humans naturally seek pleasure and want to avoid pain.  This is one reason why religion works so well.  “Do what I say and you will have pleasure, don’t do what I say and you will have pain”, says every religion on the planet.  Growing up, when your parents would punish you they said something like, “You are being disciplined”.  This is not the discipline in Magic.  Discipline in Magic is self-discipline. 

Growing up playing sports I thought that discipline was following orders.  It is but it’s not someone else’s orders.  Discipline is the ability to follow your own commands.  The ability to do what you know you need to do to get whatever it is done.  It is that simple.  Yet very few people have discipline.  Most people know what they need to do or know what they need to get done, but they don’t do it.  They lack discipline or they don’t have the ability to follow their own orders.  People know what they need to do to live a healthy life, be successful, be wise, or anything else that takes a little work.  It could be as simple as getting out and cutting the grass or fixing the car, but they don’t do it in a timely matter because they have no discipline.  The world sees them as procrastinators or lazy, but Magic sees it as not having discipline.  

This world is full of people with no discipline. Even our so-called leaders have very little discipline. How can one be a leader if they can’t even follow their own commands? They know what needs to be done to get things done, but they do not do it.  They always have an excuse.  How many people do you know that are unhealthy, lazy, procrastinators or have a cluttered and disorganized life?  They know what they should do, they have been meaning to get something done, but they just haven’t done it.  You may know someone who is very talented artistically, musically or they are a genius, but they just seem to not be able to write that book or song, play that instrument to perfection, get good grades and find a good job.  It all has to do with discipline.  

Discipline is carrying out the orders of yourself.  You are not always going to like the orders.  If discipline was easy more people would do it.  It is simple yet hard.  You may not always feel like doing what you need to do, but you carry them out anyway.  That is discipline.  The greatest athletes, performers and artists have discipline.  Magic and discipline go hand in hand.  If you are going to cast for something you want and you are not disciplined enough to act on the signs that your subconscious brings you, your Magic will not work.  It is why the law of attraction is garbage.  You can’t just sit there and imagine good things and think good things will just magically happen.  You must have the discipline to act on the synchronicity.  

Discipline is the act of doing what you know you need to do.  If you want to lose weight and get in shape, you know exactly what you need to do.  Following your own orders of eating healthy and exercising is discipline.  You can imagine yourself healthy and skinny all you want, but if the subconscious brings you a chance to start an exercise routine, like a cheap gym membership or a new bike, you must act on it.  Not acting on it is not having discipline.  To become a great athlete or artist you must practice practice practice.  Doing the act of practicing is discipline.  

Discipline means freedom.  People always want instant gratification.  They want it now.  Everyone is looking for the easy life.  The easy jackpot.  What actually happens is the easy life turns out to be hard.  You never get what you really want.  One is just a puppet controlled by their desires.  They are very undisciplined and a slave to their own desires.  You can not create the life you want without discipline.  Running from pain is being undisciplined.  This world is all about duality.  Having the discipline to conquer the pain is where the greatest Magic happens.  

When you have discipline and habits that build yourself up, it starts to give you unlimited options.  Not putting the work in for the things you want in life makes you very limited.  So freedom is about doing the work to give yourself options to choose what you want to do.  Undisciplined people think they are victims of circumstance.  When in actuality they are victims to themselves.  Getting out and working on what you know you need to do will give you the options.  Sitting around doing nothing is not freedom.  That is not honoring the commitment to yourself.  Discipline is self-knowledge.  It means you can meet life.  As Charles F. Glassman wrote:

“Self-discipline is often disguised as short-term pain, which often leads to long-term gains.  The mistake many of us make is the need and want for short-term gains (immediate gratification), which often leads to long-term pain.”  

Discipline is doing whatever it takes to get it done!