Page 88 - YOU CAN WIN - SHIV KHERA

RokZRooM Special ! You Can Win by Shiv Khera

Discipline Gives Freedom

Allowing a child to eat a box of chocolate could lead to sickness. At the same time, the
discipline of eating one or two pieces a day can be an enjoyable experience for a longer
time.
Our instinct makes us do whatever we want regardless of the consequences.

Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired but controlling the desire.

--Epictetus

There is a misconception that freedom means doing your own thing. One cannot always
have what one desires. Many times it is not easy to comprehend the benefits of good
values and discipline. It may even seem more profitable, enjoyable and convenient to do
otherwise. All we need to do is see countless instances where lack of discipline has
prevented people from succeeding. What we think is pulling us down is really taking us
up. That is what discipline is all about.

A boy was flying a kite with his father and asked him what kept the kite up. Dad replied,
"The string." The boy said, "Dad, it is the string that is holding the kite down." The father
asked his son to watch as he broke the string.

Guess what happened to the kite? It came down. Isn't that true in life? Sometimes the
very things that we think are holding us down are the things that are helping us fly. That
is what discipline is all about.

I Want to Be Free

We hear this phrase all the time: "I want to be free." If you take the train off the track, it is
free, but where does it go? If everyone could make their own traffic Iaws and drive on any
side of the road would you call that freedom or chaos? What is missing is discipline. By
observing the rule, we are actually gaining freedom, aren't we?

It is Loving Firmness

I have asked this question to many participants in my seminars: "If your child had a fever
of 105degF and did not want to go to the doctor, what would you do?" Invariably they
said they would get medical help even if the child resisted. Why? Because it is in the best
interest of the child.

Parenting is Not a Popularity Contest

A judge, when sentencing a man for robbery, asked if he had anything to say. The man
replied, "Yes, your honor. Please sentence my parents to jail also." The judge asked,
"Why?" The prisoner answered, "When I was a little boy, I stole a pencil from school. My
parents knew about it but never said a word. Then I stole a pen. They knowingly ignored
it. I continued to steal many other things from the school and the neighborhood till it
became an obsession. They knew about it, yet they never said a word. If anyone belongs
in jail with me, they do."

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