Self Discipline as the Core of Happiness

Self discipline was what made my 41,1 weeks of pregnancy a lovely, precious, enjoyable time. For the first 1-2 days after I understood I am pregnant I was in a bit of an emotional turmoil: am I ready to be a good mom, how will I go through giving birth, am I doing something that could hurt the baby inside?

Then I took a deep breath and I thought: Let me make the best of it.

From that moment on, this tiny creature inside, with a beating heart two times faster than mine and size about 1cm, became my internal emotional controller. I could no longer allow myself to get carried away by bad emotions because I thought it would somehow affect badly my little corn flake. I definitely experienced anger, fear, irritation, sadness and many other things, but I was able to quickly get out of it and feel the happiness inside.

These were blissful 9 months, with deep breaths, wide smiles, good quality sleep, relaxing yoga 2-3 times a week and a rapidly growing kicking belly. I was able to take anything lightly because my emotional controller had to be kept pure and free of negativity. It was my biggest goal and I did very well. This explains 9 months of virtually NO headache. As a comparison, usually I get 3 - 4 pretty bad headaches per month, which are usually due to me being overwhelmed by something negative. The truth is that for those 9 months I created a habit. I believed I could stay happy and the more I was happy, the easier it was to return to this state whenever I experienced a negative emotional distraction. I could safely say that these 9 months are the time I am most proud of myself; of my ability to pursue my happiness every minute. Unfortunately, believe it or not, once my emotional controller was out, I started falling into negative gaps again.

So the question after all this is: why do I have to have an emotional controller in the face of a baby when my mind should be able to do the same job? If I can be so happy to protect another creature, why can I not do it to protect myself and my own health? I have to apply self discipline to keep myself happy for my own good and then I am sure it will be again spread to others as well.