Discipline

"Our age is in search of an authentic vision of the human person.  Are we just animals?  Are we intelligent animals?  Or are we children of God?  Are we the result of evolution, a big bang, the loving hand of a creator or some combination of these?  Are we here to grasp as much pleasure as possible in our brief time or is there a higher calling and purpose in our lives?  The way we live, love, work, vote and participate in a society is a direct result of the vision of the human person that we subscribe to.
Here in America, we spent more than thirty billion dollars last year on diet products.  That is more than we spend on books, and more than the gross domestic product (GDP)of at least fifty nations in the world.  Now it would seem to me that the only diet most of us need is a little bit of discipline.  But we don't want any discipline.  We want someone to get on the informercial and tell us that if we take this little pill twice a day, every day, we can eat whatever we want, whenever we want.  We want someone to tell us, "You can be healthy and happy without discipline."
The truth is, you cannot be healthy and happy without discipline.  In fact, if you want to measure the level of happiness in your life, just measure the lever of discipline in your life.  You will never have more happiness than you have discipline.  The two are directly related to one another."   Matthew Kelly, Rediscover Catholicism.

No wonder marathoners and distance runners are the happiest people on the planet!

All kidding aside, I took this quote from the mentioned book.  If you attend Catholic mass anywhere in Cincinnati and did so on Christmas Eve or Christmas, you received this book from the archbishop.  I was skipping through sections on the book and came to a section on fasting.  This was where I found the quote.  And although I am in no way a person who likes to fast, I got his point and I got why from a secular standpoint, it is important (lots more in the book on this subject...).  But what caught my eye was what was being said.  I told my mom on Christmas that reading that chapter articulated almost every point of why I want to do a 100 mile ultra marathon.  It probably articulated the thoughts and feelings of many marathoners, Ironman triathletes and any other group of people that push themselves to extremes.

"Your body has a voice, and it talks to you constantly.  You wake up, and the body cries out, "feed me," so you eat.  A couple of hours later the body cries out, "I'm thirsty," so you drink.  Later the body cries out, "I'm tired," so you rest.  Again the body cries out, "feed me," and you do.  WHEN IT'S TIME TO EXERCISE YOUR BODY CRIES OUT, "I DON'T FEEL LIKE IT," so you don't.  And at the end of the day, the body calls out, "I'm ready for bed," so you sleep.  Whether we are aware of it or not, our bod is ordering us around most of the day.  The body is always crying out, feed me, sleep me, please me, nourish me, wash me, relieve me, water me...
But where is this voice leading us?  In a modern climate, most people's bodies are winning the battle for dominance between body and soul.  In a sense, the body is like money-- a great servant, but a horrible master."

For much of my life, I have let the voice of my body dictate.  I don't deny myself much at all.  Often times, I feel entitled to just lay around and do nothing and have plenty of justification why I am entitled.  I know exactly why my house is sometimes a mess... and it isn't due to the age old excuse of lack of time, either.  We constantly get messages from society and from others to just "give yourself a break.  Who cares if you don't get some of the things you'd planned on doing done?"  Well I wouldn't care if I truly had just cause not to do some of these things.  But all too often the reason is "I don't feel like it."

I think entering the world of ultra distances is changing that for me in many respects.  First of all, there are MANY times during a long training run that you have to mentally (and sometimes verbally), tell your body's multiple complaints to STFU (really, need I spell it out?)!  You become very good at ignoring your body's ever constant commands.  And as long as there is no legitimate injury, or health concern going on, each incident changes you just a little.  Practice quieting that voice for a few years, training cycle after training cycle, and it changes you a lot.

I didn't want to run trails yesterday morning.  And a million things told me it wasn't a good idea.  The stuff hitting the window sounded like ice, not snow.  The wind sounded miserable and the park gates were closed.  But experience has shown me time and time again, these are sometimes the greatest moments in training.  So I instructed John to park at the junior high school and we'd run to the park trails.  Greg and Kim were joining us and God love them, they were game.  Kim had thousands of calories to burn and Greg, well he will run just about anytime, anyplace.

By the time we got to the trails, we were good and warmed up.  The wind was not a big issue and the trails were a bit slushy, but not icy.  By the final mile, it was snowing heavily and it was so beautiful.  There we were, the day after Christmas, in the woods, doing what we love in the most glorious weather I can imagine myself running it.  It was Heaven.

So often, these are the enormous rewards of discipline.  Time and time again, I have to silence the voice of my body that longs for ease and comfort.  When I do, my heart and soul are filled with immeasurable happiness.  This is true in all aspects of my life... helping others when it's inconvenient, looking at my husband and sincerely apologizing even when it's hard, restraining myself when my kids have absolutely shredded my last nerve and making time for silent prayer every day, especially the busiest of days.

So Matthew Kelly is correct:  You can never have more happiness than you have discipline.  The two are directly related to one another.

Wishing you the happiest of New Years!