Is discipline a curse or a blessing?

When I was a kid, I was all but disciplined and it created a lot of unbearable anguish for myself. Then, as a teenager, I discovered discipline and I developed a liking for it as it cured my anxiety. 

Long before Nike came up with the slogan “Just do it”, I had made it my north star and followed it pretty well. Sure, there were lapses to that regimen as I became an adult, but overall the trend towards personal discipline kept on growing, sometimes making me a boring, impersonal, even uncaring person and choking some of my inborn creativity.

Yet, I still believe discipline isn’t a curse. I see it more like a powerful tool that I try to use for good. Over the years, it has allowed me to channel my energy and time towards my goals and helped me overcome procrastination and develop skills I needed, gave me some salutary habits, helped my physical well-being, stimulated my personal growth, developed my potential and gave me more control on my life. 

Sure, there were, and still are, moments when discipline becomes obsessive, messes up my flexibility and blunts my fun side. Thank god, aging has and still continues to soften the sharp edges of discipline, making it more of a pleasant journey than an unreachable destination, and has softened its bite enough to keep creativity, fun and a healthy balance into my life.