I talk about these three things as being important to me in my life. Duty, Discipline & Honor.
What I’ve realized is that I had a limited understanding of what these words really meant, and could mean to me and others. I’m realizing you need to have a definition, a clear target, that you can fully grasp and believe in, in order to fully live it out.
The word ‘sin’ is an ancient archery term for ‘missing the mark’. The thing about archery and shooting an arrow… the arrow itself never misses what it was aimed at. That’s right. Bullseye err no, the arrow hit right where it was aimed. Something in the shot setup was off. (That’s another article)
In short, you need to adjust you, in order for the arrow to hit the bullseye, which is exactly what you need to do for your life. As you grow and look into things your knowledge and understanding will change as you incorporate more information and gain experience to chew on.
The trick to all of this, I am finding, is… application. Are you applying what you are learning into your life to feed change? Or are you just a quippy, quotey, person who is inspired for a total of ten seconds in the morning when a quote pops up on your phone?
Today moving forward, with my clearer definitions, my targets for Duty, Discipline & Honor will be as follows.
Duty: “that which ought to be done” It can be taking out the garbage to saving someone from a burning building, that’s a big gap, but I think it covers everything from daily mundane tasks, to the large, once in a life time tasks. The idea of, “are you doing what ought to be done?” right now, needs to be in the forefront.
Discipline: “teaching, learning” And it doesn’t matter the technique, whether it’s with a spanking or watching your granddad tying a dry fly for trout… you are learning a lesson; so separate the technique, good or bad, in your opinion, from the fact you are being taught a lesson. But are you learning?
Honor: “glory, renown, or fame earned” What are you known for? This comes from those around you and may or may not line up with how you feel about yourself. I’m separating this from ‘respect’, you can respect yourself and others, you cannot, I believe, ‘claim your own fame’. You might be a jerk and think you’re prince charming.
For ‘teaching and learning’. I am not affiliated in anyway with OE, I use it and like it as a resource.
Resource: Online Etymology Dictionary
www.etymonline.com
duty (n.)
late 14c., duete, “obligatory service, that which ought to be done,” also “the force of that which is morally right,” from Anglo-French duete, from Old French deu “due, owed; proper, just,” from Vulgar Latin *debutus, from Latin debitus, past participle of debere “to owe,” originally, “keep something away from someone,” from de- “away” (see de-) + habere “to have” (from PIE root *ghabh- “to give or receive”). Related: Duties.
Military sense of “a requisite service” is by 1580s. The sense of “tax or fee on imports, exports, etc.” is from late 14c.; hence duty-free (adv.) “free from tax or duty” (1680s), and, as a noun, “duty-free article” (1958), “duty-free shop” (by 1980).
discipline (n.)
c. 1200, “penitential chastisement; punishment for the sake of correction,” from Old French descepline “discipline, physical punishment; teaching; suffering; martyrdom” (11c., Modern French discipline) and directly from Latin disciplina “instruction given, teaching, learning, knowledge,” also “object of instruction, knowledge, science, military discipline,” from discipulus “pupil, student, follower”
(see disciple (n.)).
The Latin word is glossed in Old English by þeodscipe. The meaning “treatment that corrects or punishes” is from the notion of “order necessary for instruction.”
Meaning “branch of instruction or education” is first recorded late 14c. Meaning “system of rules and regulations” is from mid-14c. Meaning “military training” is from late 15c., via the notion of “training to follow orders and act in accordance with rules;” that of “orderly conduct as a result of training” is from c. 1500. Sense of “system by which the practice of a church is regulated, laws which bind the subjects of a church in their conduct” is from 1570s.
discipline (v.)
c. 1300, disciplinen, “to subject to (penitential) discipline, correct, chastise, punish,” from Old French descepliner and directly from Medieval Latin disciplinare, from Latin disciplina (see discipline (n.)). Meaning “instruct, educate, train” is from late 14c. Related: Disciplined; disciplines; disciplining.
honor (n.)
c. 1200, onur, “glory, renown, fame earned,” from Anglo-French honour, Old French onor, honor “honor, dignity, distinction, position; victory, triumph” (Modern French honneur), from Latin honorem (nominative honos, the form used by Cicero, but later honor) “honor, dignity, office, reputation,” which is of unknown origin. In Middle English, it also could mean “splendor, beauty; excellence.” Until 17c., honour and honor were equally frequent; the former now preferred in England, the latter in U.S. by influence of Noah Webster. Meaning “feminine purity, a woman’s chastity” first attested late 14c. Honor roll in the scholastic sense attested by 1872.
The initial h in honest, honor, etc., is merely etymological, the sound having already disappeared when the word came into ME use. [Century Dictionary]
It was a Latinate correction that began to be made in early Old French. From c. 1300 as “action of honoring or paying respect to; act or gesture displaying reverence or esteem; state or condition inspiring respect; nobleness of character or manners; high station or rank; a mark of respect or esteem; a source of glory, a cause of good reputation.” Meaning “one’s personal title to high respect or esteem” is from 1540s.
honor (v.)
mid-13c., honuren, “to do honor to, show respect to,” from Old French onorer, honorer “respect, esteem, revere; welcome; present” (someone with something), from Latin honorare “to honor,” from honor “honor, dignity, office, reputation” (see honor (n.)). From c. 1300 as “confer honors on.” From c. 1300 as “to respect, follow” (teachings, etc.). In the commercial sense of “accept a bill due, etc.,” it is recorded from 1706, via the notion of “perform a duty of respect toward.” Related: Honored; honoring.
A custom more honoured in the breach than the observance. Whoever will look up the passage (Hamlet I. iv. 16) will see that it means, beyond a doubt, a custom that one deserves more honour for breaking than for keeping: but it is often quoted in the wrong & very different sense of a dead letter or rule more often broken than kept. [Fowler]
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