People commend me for tidiness. I think they also think of me as a disciplined person. Why? Coz on most occasions I abstain from drinking or smoking or partying or whiling away my time, etc. I also come across as a person who seems to be preoccupied with thoughts (unknown) every time. Busy. Not really 'free'.
I will clarify on all three counts.
Tidiness in physical appearance and surroundings is quite different from tidiness in mind. The latter would be more desirable I think.
Abstaining from certain things doesn't mean being disciplined. At best it could be a part of 'being disciplined'. I realize that being disciplined means not giving into laziness, not letting time leakages happen. (Of course, laziness and leakages aren't really unambiguous words but clear definitions are often subject to conditions.)
Being preoccupied means I've let my mind wander (thinking many things) quite a bit. Wandering quite often happens out of laziness. It results in leakages of time. It happens coz it's an easy state to be in. Though the outer demeanor is one of 'business'. Evaluating at a personal level, I think that's what is indiscipline.
Discipline and freedom aren't mutually exclusive as it often seems.
Discipline means at once striving to complete a given task with immense intensity. If that makes you accomplish the task, you are free to do other things. If that doesn't make you accomplish the task, you are still free coz by then you would be physically or mentally exhausted. There's nothing more you would do, at least for that moment, and that's a state of freedom too.
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