My teeth were rotting out of my head.
A toothache demanded I visit the dentist, a trip I avoided for 15 years. I had lost the habit of daily brushing decades ago. And flossing… well, c’mon, who can bother with flossing?
I began paying the price for my neglect on that day.
Four root canals and two pulled teeth later, I’m still paying. Do I always have to learn the hard way?
Here are a few of the hard lessons I learned after years of neglecting my teeth.
There are risks and costs to action.
But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction.
-John F. Kennedy
Inaction has consequences
It’s not only the things we do that cause us trouble in life; it’s the things we don’t do. The most fundamental law of the universe might be actions have consequences. But inaction also has effects.
Inaction is a choice, a choice that can lead to regret.
Everything in the universe is changing; nothing stays the same. When you choose inaction, you are waiting for entropy to take its toll. Or for something or someone else to act upon you. This puts you at a disadvantage, making it hard to control the outcome.
It’s better to act, than to be acted upon.
Many things need attention to stay healthy.
Teeth, house plants, relationships, and friendships. Neglect them, ignore them, and they will get sick and wither away.
You can’t break the laws of nature
As Cecil B. Demille said about the Ten Commandments,
“It is impossible for us to break the law. We can only break ourselves against the law.”
The same is true for the laws of nature.
Jump out of an airplane with no parachute, and you’re at the mercy of gravity.
Live on a diet of pizza and beer, and your body will suffer.
Stop brushing your teeth, and you’ll have a toothache(s).
We convince ourselves we can bend the rules because the consequences take time.
When the results finally appear, we have a mess.
Jocko was right – Discipline equals freedom
Taking the easy way out leads to a lack of self-discipline. This lack of discipline can spill over into other areas of your life. You begin to form bad habits that hurt your health and happiness.
It sounds like freedom when you do whatever you want. But true freedom is on the other side of discipline.
It’s like the old 1970s Fram oil filter television commercial where the mechanic says, “Pay me now or pay me later.”
One way or another, you will pay.
The way to freedom is to pay upfront today with the discipline to do the right thing. Be lazy, take the easy way out, and you will owe a growing debt that, sooner or later, will come due.
Payment for my lack of discipline? Pain, expensive dental bills, hours in a dental chair, and adverse health consequences.
Lesson learned. A little discipline goes a long way.
