Life Lessons Continued

@ adchempages wrote to me on twitter that the life lessons he aims for students to learn are the following: Discipline, Punctuality, Politeness, Deadlines, Respect, and Accountability.  In this post, I elaborate on what those words mean to me.

Discipline: I interpret this as mostly involving self-discipline. To me, having discipline involves persistence with the work of moving toward one’s own goals, especially in face at adversity. It is not discipline to obey others or to fulfill the goals that others have for you.

Punctuality: I interpret this to mean to strive to act with conviction when needed, and to have one’s words be coherent as possible with one’s actions. It is not to be on time, but rather to be exact in one’s actions.

Politeness: I interpret politeness to be humble in the face of the unknown and unknowable. Politeness is the counterpart to punctuality.

Deadlines: I see this as the need to act in a timely way such that no one else is harmed by one’s inaction, especially those to which you hold community relation. The premise for this is that the choice not to act is an act.

Respect: To be receptive to possibility that you can learn from anyone and everyone and to act in ways to make learning interactions more probable and more fruitful.

Accountability: To be aware of one’s multiple and often conflicting responsibilities to self and others and to act in ways that are mindful of such conflicts. It is to treat community as part of self and self as part of community.