Welcome to 2020, a year I’m sure we will be looking back on for some time to come. As we enter this new decade fresh and ready to move forward, it’s time to consider what we can do for ourselves to make it a better year for everyone. It’s time for a little bit of self-investment. If we each make a better “me,” then we see vast improvement and healthier growth together, as “we” evolve. After all, we are a group of individuals who strive each day to become better people for our families, our communities, and our planet.
Of course, it takes a special kind of discipline to make this happen. And yes, I know “discipline” is a scary word to many of us. It may make you think of a crabby teacher who just never understood your sense of humor or level of energy, or perhaps it brings back memories of when you and a buddy got a bit too curious about something to do with physics and then had the misfortune of becoming the unlucky landing zones of the broad side of a paddle. Oh, the fond memories we share of an adventurous youth well spent in the pursuit of learning.
Discipline isn’t a friendly word, but we should be mature enough to embrace it and grow from it. In our youth, discipline is prescribed to help us learn the basics of what is right and what is wrong. As adults, it is our responsibility to turn that knowledge into wisdom to share with others.
After learning from our parents, teachers, and mentors, it is our individual self-discipline that gets stronger, as we use it more. This makes us more responsible stewards of our own path as well as the paths of those who learn from us.
We often are persuaded by convenience, pleasure, or peers to look the other way. We each know what is the “right” thing to do; our good conscience tells us that. Be kind to each other, the planet, and yourself. Next year, when I look back on 2020, I hope my actions will have provided a good example for many, inspiring them to make positive personal changes, too. This is the first month of the rest of your life. Let’s do this for everyone.
Jack Tuszynski is an award-winning photojournalist and the Publisher of the Family Life Publications group of magazines.
to your business!