When I teach my fitness class at the juvenile detention center, I’m continually reminding the teens that discipline is freedom. And discipline is simply the ability to choose something better than my immediate, reactionary desire. So whether we develop discipline through physical fitness, reading good books, spiritual practices, or any other good habit, it will serve us well in just about every other aspect of life. If we can get ourselves to do hard things in one area, that’s a skill that can carry over to other areas as well. Once we develop the capacity to choose the long-term good over the short-term comfort, we now have options. Thus, we have more freedom because we’re no longer confined by our knee-jerk reactions.
