Personal Development

Okay, can we just be honest with each other for a minute?

There’s a saying I keep coming back to lately: the pain of discipline weighs ounces, but the pain of regret weighs tons. And every time I hear it, I feel it right in my chest, because I’ve carried both. I bet you have too.

Discipline hurts. I’m not going to pretend it doesn’t. It’s getting up when the bed is warm and your body is begging for ten more minutes. It’s closing the app when you’d rather keep scrolling. It’s saying no to the thing you want right now so you can have the thing you want most. It’s opening your Bible when you don’t feel anything. It’s sitting down to do the work nobody’s clapping for.

That stuff stings. But here’s what I’ve noticed: it stings for a moment, and then it’s done. You feel it, you push through it, and by lunchtime you’ve mostly forgotten it was hard.

Regret doesn’t work like that.

Regret moves in. It sits at the kitchen table with you. It shows up at 2 a.m. and replays every “I’ll start Monday” you ever said. It whispers about the business you didn’t build, the conversation you didn’t have, the habit you let slide one day at a time until one day turned into five years. Regret isn’t a sting. It’s a weight you carry around so long you forget you’re carrying it, until you notice how tired you are.

And I’ll be real with you, I’ve had seasons where I chose the ounces of comfort over and over, and paid for it later in tons. I’ve watched things I care about sit unfinished because “not today” felt easier. Nobody warned me that avoiding the small pain would cost me so much more down the road.

Scripture doesn’t sugarcoat this either.

“Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Hebrews 12:11)

Did you catch that? It’s grievous in the moment. God’s not asking you to love every minute of it. He’s telling you there’s an afterward. There’s fruit on the other side. Peace on the other side.

Discipline isn’t about being perfect or white-knuckling your way into being a better Christian. It’s about loving your future self enough to show up for her today. It’s saying, “Lord, I don’t feel like it, but I trust You with what this is growing in me.”

So here’s what I want you to do today. Not next week. Today.

Pick one thing. Just one. The workout, the prayer, the phone call, the bill, the project you keep circling. Do the ounce-sized version of it. Ten minutes. One page. One step. Let it be small and let it be uncomfortable, and then let it be done.

Because every time you choose the ounce, you’re taking a little weight off the tons you’d have to carry later.

And if you’re sitting there already carrying regret, please hear me: it’s not too late.

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:9)

Due season is still coming. You don’t get yesterday back, but you do get today. And today is a really good place to start over.

I’m right here doing it with you. Some days I nail it. Some days I’m starting over again by noon. But I’m choosing ounces, one day at a time.

What’s your one thing today? Tell me in the comments. I want to cheer you on.

With so much love,
Momma J 🤍

Ready to start choosing the ounce with God every day? Check out Still, Small Voice and Grace Unfolding (use code GRACE20), and come say hi on Instagram @mommajscozycottage.