One of the most beautiful forms of art is the art of sculpting. Sculpting is not just an art form that requires patience, precision and great skill, but it also requires a distinct intelligence from the artist. This insight enables the artist to look at a plain slab of wood or stone, and bring forth pieces of nature and life from it.
Each human being is born as a blank canvas, and the world acts as an artist by adding colours and character to each individual through the unique experiences it brings to that person. Then, as we grow up and learn how to take control of our own lives, we become artists whose tools are simply the choices we make. From these choices and from these unique experiences, each person emerges to become a piece of art; a story that has been sculpted from an empty beginning.
Perseverance is a mighty flame that fuels our skills and interests. Hard work is often the only way to reach seemingly impossible goals. Honesty is the guide that reminds us of our final destination. However, the presence of all of these values alongside the absence of discipline is as useful as a blunt knife in a battle against a mountain.
As young people, we are taught that setting goals and working with commitment and zeal towards the achievement of these goals will most certainly bring about positive effects. In adopting this idea, we believe that hard work, perseverance and honesty are synonymous with discipline.
Discipline, however, is an idea that is a little different. Discipline is the special intelligence that sculptors have, but instead of seeing art in blocks of stone, it helps us to see unused potential in ourselves and what we need to do in order to tap into it.
Our young age means that we are still undergoing the process of being sculpted. We have been formed into shapes and vague patterns already, but we are yet to be changed into a unique work of art. Discipline speeds up this process of sculpting so that we can begin to tell our own stories and influence the world as soon as possible.
Discipline is not just a quality, but a process which we must teach ourselves to stick to. Heraclitus, an ancient Greek philosopher once said: “The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you choose, what you think and what you do, is who you become.”
Starting now, each second is a chance for us to change and grow. Each one of us can make a mark on this world and be the best version of ourselves if we make just a little effort every single day to see ourselves not just as what we are, but what we can be.
Discipline is our opportunity to take control of who we become. A sculpture is birthed from stone and steel, but an individual with good character rises from a series of choices that reflect self-respect and discipline.
