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Writings about death, relationships, feelings, and time |
| The word for today is discipline. I am not a very disciplined person. I act on impulse. I live on the edge. I respond to my feelings, and sometimes act on my emotions. I can live in chaos. I thrive on challenges. I enjoy peace, quiet and solitude. I don't do well in cookie cutter situations. I prefer exploring the possibilities, and most of all, I love being different. To not get sucked up into being like everyone else requires a certain amount of discipline. It requires being very comfortable with myself. Knowing who I am has taken a lifetime, but it is not new to me. I have always known me, and who I was even when my Mother and others tried to mold me into something else or someone else. Discipline allowed me to conform just enough for them to leave me alone. I learned those things that have allowed me to pick cotton, work in tobacco, pick peanuts, chop grass, worm tobacco, and even sucked tobacco (no, not with my mouth, but a process of taking out the little leaves that try to grow on top of the bigger leaf). It takes discipline to do these jobs in the hot brawling sun day after day after day. That same discipline helped me get through high school and college and two masters programs. Discipline led me through 26 years in one job; almost ten on another, and four plus years on still another job. The last two jobs, I served as the chief executive officer. And, yes, discipline has allowed me to serve with honor on the City Council for many years, and the last nine as Mayor of my City. With the help and guidance given to me by my Mother, I was able to raise my family (three girls and one boy) as a single mother while taking in and raising any child in distress in the neighborhood as well as families that were displaced. Life has not been a bowl of cherries, but discipline has played a vital role in my accomplishments. Without discipline and my own natural behaviors, thoughts, drive, and curiosity, I would not have left home. Though mild spoken and even spirited, my Mother was very protective and sheltered me as much as she possibly could. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was a handful. A ball of energy. Outspoken, and full of life. I have been a daredevil in the true since of the word. It seemed as I was growing up that I required a spanking (they were really beatings) every single day until I reached the grand old age of fourteen (14). After actually being truly disobedient, Mother took her usual position, and explained that I had earned the beating that I was about to receive. Having had enough of this beating stuff, I looked her squarely in the eyes and told her "I'm ready for the beating that you are about to give me. I am also prepared to do whatever I am big enough to do now and in the future, and take the consequences that come with my actions." Mother paused, and sat down. She asked me, if I understood what I had just said, and I answered yes. She said, "Then you have learned the lesson that I have been trying to teach you for fourteen (14) years. She never spanked or beat me again. Discipline is not a dirty word even when used to spank or correct a child's behavior. Throughout life each of us practice some form of discipline. Notice, I did NOT SAY CHILD ABUSE! A good old fashion butt spanking administered by "daddy" or "mom" and the child will remember! Most children desire honest, fair, and appropriate discipline, and will respond to it in a positive manner. Discipline is NOT A NASTY word, but one used in love, care and part of raising children in the way that they should be raised. It teaches love, respect, accountability, honesty, integrity, and DISCIPLINE. All the things society admires and looks for in a person; all the things required by the military regardless of the branch; all of the things that each person I know wants for themselves. So WHERE DID WE GO WRONG?  |
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