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Tinaye Zenenga
Youth Pastor
Happy National Youth Day! What a time to be alive. The fact that you’re still alive and able to read this article means God is not yet finished with you.
The past year, 2020, we experienced so many deaths all over the world, mainly due to the covid-19 pandemic. The title of this article can make you cringe, but I am very much assured that you will be blessed.
To talk about pain in a world which seems to be in so much pain already seems so naïve. The late renowned motivational speaker, Jim Rohn, made a very profound statement.
He said, “We must all suffer from one of two pains: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret. The difference is discipline weighs ounces while regret weighs tonnes.”
Wow! What a profound statement that holds true to our lives as young people. As we celebrate our National Youth Day, I want to challenge youth to choose the pain of discipline. It is you who chooses which pain you want to endure, the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
I want to remind you of the fact that on a daily basis, you are presented with so many choices.
Life sets a buffet of very enticing things and it is your sole responsibility to know which choice to make. Whatever choice you make, it will either weigh ounces or tons.
If you discipline yourself, you reap the good rewards of discipline. If you make the wrong choices, the outcome weighs tons and it can leave you with drastic ramifications.
You can never be successful in life until you master the art of discipline.
Let’s define discipline. The word discipline comes from the Latin word disciplina, which means instruction and training. It’s derived from the root word discere which means to learn. Therefore, discipline is to study, learn, train, and apply a system of standards.
Discipline is not something others do to you. It is something you do for yourself. You can receive instruction or guidance from one or many sources, but the source of discipline is not external.
It is internal. Discipline is not obedience to someone else’s standards to avoid punishment. It is learning and applying intentional standards to achieve meaningful objectives. Discipline is a choice . . . your choice. It is a decision. Better yet, all your decisions. Those who choose to endure the pain of discipline will minimise their regrets.
Those who choose to be indisciplined will surely face inevitable regret. Let me paint a picture for you which will make this whole article relatable to you.
Each morning when you open your eyes, you are faced with two choices. The choice to either wake up or to stay in bed.
If you choose to wake up and get out of bed, you will start your chores and go about your daily business of the day. If you choose to sleep in and stay in bed, at the end of the day you will regret not doing your chores and not attending to the business of the day. Which pain are you choosing?
I write in the introduction of my first book called “The Wise Youth: Nuggets of A Significant Life” about a dear friend of mine who took his life. On 2 July, 2010 at about 8:30pm, I was enjoying the match between Ghana and Uruguay as they clashed in the World Cup quarter finals. Suddenly I received a call from Jeremiah’s aunt, who informed me that my dear friend had committed suicide.
I was in deep shock and I could not ask for more details over the phone as the aunt had already hung up.
With panic, trembling hands and feet, and eyes filled with tears I left the game and rushed to the aunt’s house, which was just a stone’s throw away. Fortunately, I found her just about to leave her house, and through teary eyes laced with a deep pain, she began to narrate what had happened.
I later on learnt that my friend had taken a dose of hydrogen peroxide, a very poisonous chemical which had been left undisposed in their garage.
Jeremiah was pronounced dead on his way to the hospital and it was only a few moments later that the family realised that he had left a note on his bed citing his reasons for ending his life.
I could not believe my ears.
My friend had engaged in unprotected sex with a certain girl and now she was four months pregnant. He could not face the responsibility of being a father only at the age of sixteen, thus he decided to end his life.
A decision he made four months earlier had now come with drastic ramifications. The young, talented and smart fellow I had known for years was no more. All the dreams he had were buried with him.
Here was a youth who had died with so much untapped potential in him. I remember how during one of our conversations when we were painting away our future lives with vivid strokes of imagination, Jeremiah described how he saw himself as an entrepreneur with multiple investments under his portfolio.
Sadly, this is a reflection of the catastrophic situations challenging the young population of today. Here was a young man with a very bright future who suffered from the pain of regret which ended up weighing tonnes and led to his death.
Had he chosen the pain of discipline, he would have preserved his life.
Discipline is painful because it demands a high standard from you. It’s painful to wake up and get out of bed whilst others are sleeping.
It’s painful to save money whilst others are spending theirs. It’s painful to serve God whilst others seem to be enjoy the pleasures of life. That’s the pain of discipline.
It is worth of all that pain. Where would your life be now if you had chosen discipline? Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.
Discipline separates successful people from unsuccessful people.
As we celebrate the National Youth Day, I implore you, to choose to suffer the pain of discipline now and reap its avalanche of rewards.
Tinaye Zenenga is a youth pastor at The Empowerment Ministries, an author and radio personality.
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