More Discipline Please

I was reading the other day that if you want to increase your happiness then you must increase your discipline. Wow, this is a radical concept to me. I have never thought that happiness and discipline go hand in hand. But after thinking about it, they really do.

I started to think about some of the things that would make me happy. At the most shallow level, having a fit body would make me happy. Then I wouldn't have to feel embarrassed when the wind blew my shirt against my body and exposed my flabby tummy. Not feeling embarrassed would make me so happy. (On a side note, while volunteering at my daughter's kindergarten class one of the students asked me if I was having a baby; talk about mortified.) How do I achieve this fit body? Discipline.

I would also love to stop feeling guilty about not spending enough quality time with my kids. I am a stay at home mom so they get plenty of time, but not tons of me really doing something with them that they enjoy. I don't "play" very well. I tend to stay busy doing things around the house and just shuffling them around. How could I spend more time with them and stop feeling guilty? Discipline.

These are just two examples off the top of my head. It seems that the magic answer to achieving happiness is discipline. And yet, here I am with answer in hand and I still can't seem to master having discipline. Why? I think it is because for most of these things I am only accountable to myself. And I don't really suffer all that well. If I am suffering, all I want to do is end it. I guess along with the discipline, I must embrace suffering. Diet and exercise is suffering. I'm sorry if I offend a lot of parents out there, but for me, sitting down and doing activities with a child has a certain amount of suffering. There are many things I would rather be doing than putting a Disney princess puzzle together.

I guess I really need discipline about having discipline. I am really going to put that on my list. But as soon as it gets hard, who knows...