Passion and Discipline
I've been observing the children and youth of today. Whether it's on the streets, in church, or just random kids. And I realise one thing that every generation says of the next: 'so undisciplined!'
At the risk of making a sweeping cliche, I think kids today are so difficult to handle. Just ask Caiying and her experiences with her youth. And I keep wondering what is the problem. It's not like we have an education system that doesn't emphasise discipline, or that parents don't discipline their children, or that our teachers suck.
I've concluded that our children today have no discipline because we have taught them discipline but not passion. In a nutshell, I think that these two are inextricable from each other. We teach them that they need to work hard, without telling them what they are to work hard for. We keep saying that they need to be disciplined, to be responsible about time, to focus, to put in their best effort, without teaching them the ends to their means.
You see, discipline is what we do, not what we are. Discipline's purpose is so that we may attain a higher goal, a better prize. It is a tool, neutral in and of itself. In some fields, extraordinary achievements are attained by pure talent alone. Others just require money. Discipline, in the same way, is one of those tools, albeit one that works in many circumstances.
The thing is, if our kids had passion, they would be very disciplined too. These come hand in hand. The passionate athlete trains with utter discipline. So does the chef who wants his culinary creations to turn out the best every single time: not an extra bit of salt, not an extra second on the stove. The philosopher trains his mind to think and maintains his brain dexterity for that one passion. The scientist spends day and night in his laboratory.
Passion. If only we could teach passion, our kids would be disciplined as well. But passion is not taught, it is caught. And it can only be transmitted if the transmitter is oozing it himself for the receiver to catch some of its overflow.
Maybe that's the problem.
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I know, I know. This is too early to be blogging. Oh, it's about 6:18am now.
But yea, I step into a totally new phase of life today. I'm excited and nervous at the same time, but thankful that somehow I feel more positive about it this morning. The reason I'm here blogging is cos I can't sleep. I think I'm too excited and I have too active a mind. :p
At the risk of making a sweeping cliche, I think kids today are so difficult to handle. Just ask Caiying and her experiences with her youth. And I keep wondering what is the problem. It's not like we have an education system that doesn't emphasise discipline, or that parents don't discipline their children, or that our teachers suck.
I've concluded that our children today have no discipline because we have taught them discipline but not passion. In a nutshell, I think that these two are inextricable from each other. We teach them that they need to work hard, without telling them what they are to work hard for. We keep saying that they need to be disciplined, to be responsible about time, to focus, to put in their best effort, without teaching them the ends to their means.
You see, discipline is what we do, not what we are. Discipline's purpose is so that we may attain a higher goal, a better prize. It is a tool, neutral in and of itself. In some fields, extraordinary achievements are attained by pure talent alone. Others just require money. Discipline, in the same way, is one of those tools, albeit one that works in many circumstances.
The thing is, if our kids had passion, they would be very disciplined too. These come hand in hand. The passionate athlete trains with utter discipline. So does the chef who wants his culinary creations to turn out the best every single time: not an extra bit of salt, not an extra second on the stove. The philosopher trains his mind to think and maintains his brain dexterity for that one passion. The scientist spends day and night in his laboratory.
Passion. If only we could teach passion, our kids would be disciplined as well. But passion is not taught, it is caught. And it can only be transmitted if the transmitter is oozing it himself for the receiver to catch some of its overflow.
Maybe that's the problem.
___________________________________________________
I know, I know. This is too early to be blogging. Oh, it's about 6:18am now.
But yea, I step into a totally new phase of life today. I'm excited and nervous at the same time, but thankful that somehow I feel more positive about it this morning. The reason I'm here blogging is cos I can't sleep. I think I'm too excited and I have too active a mind. :p
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