celebration of discipline

An organized overview of all my reflections on Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline. A selected list of posts follows the table of links.

table of all posts

Click here to see all posts. In the table, click the category of posts you'd like to read. These links are always up to date.

selected posts

I've listed some selected posts below from each category. This list isn't exhaustive, but it's a great place to start!

a life-changing book

Grades aren’t a measure of how much you’ve learned. You can get perfect scores on everything while learning nothing. You could also learn more than you’ve ever learned in your life while failing every test. The important thing isn’t the grade: it’s that you improve every day.

tateTate Shannon

perfection is the enemy of good

When people ask me to share the most important thing I learned in college, I always have to say, “We’re going for optimization, not perfection.” This is hard for me to come to terms with.

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take a break

I’ve always been told that the best way to study involves taking frequentbreaks. I have a hard time accepting this. My time is precious–especially beforeexams–and wasting any of it doing nothing would be an enormous waste. I’vealready explored one facet of this in my post

tateTate Shannon

sweet hour of prayer

I hope the meditation’s gone well over the past week! What have you learned?Have you enjoyed it? Hated it? Think I’m crazy? Send me a message to let me knowwhat you think! click here to send me a message!If you’ve made it through the mediation, I’llbet

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that was fast

puzzle updateTwo more people have solved the puzzle (that’s a total of 4 now!) One of themeven wrote some code that helped him (which is totally not necessary at all). Beon the lookout for a guest post from him in the near future! If you want to

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give thanks

If you haven’t heard of the recent trend in gratitude journaling, you’re reallymissing out! All you have to do is write down one thing (or two or three or ahundred or however many you want) that you’re thankful for for each day. It’s awonderful practice even though

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my first celebrity interview: jt warmack

Happy New Year! Please bear with me as I try something new for my series onRichard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline. You can read the earlier posts inthis series here: celebration of discipline - tatea life observedtate[https://www.tate.fyi/tag/celebration-of-discipline/]No blog would be compl…

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that was fast, part 2

This is my second post on fasting. You can read the first one here: that was fastpuzzle updateTwo more people have solved the puzzle (that’s atotalof 4 now!) One of them even wrote some code that helped him (which is totallynot necessary at all). Be on

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new year’s resolution

I don’t like resolutions. I don’t even like goals[https://www.tate.fyi/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-good/]. This year, I made aresolution. If I need to do something that’s good for me, why would I wait until January 1stto start doing it? If I need to stop something that’s bad for

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the challenge of generosity

Here’s a question to ask early and ask often: what does it cost to be generous? Let’s explore that question for the rest of this post. remember encouragement?Here’s one of the best posts I’ve written: encouragementWe have access to the tool that causes happiness and peace to growand

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tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free...

> ’Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,’Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,And when we find ourselves in the place just right,It will be in the valley of love and delight. ’Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis

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trust

I found this simulation online. I recommend you give it a shot. It plays into myrecent posts on fear and generosity. Trust me, more is coming! The Evolution of Trustan interactive guide to the game theory of why & how wetrust each other [https://ncase.me/trust/]In case

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it’s actually very simple

In my last post on simplicity, we decided that simplicity is centering your lifeon things that are certain: tis the gift to be simple, tis the gift to be free...’Tis the gift to besimple,’tis the gift to be free, ’Tis the gift to come down where

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the power of prayer

I didn’t realize until halfway through college that the single most powerful guiding force of my life was the prayers of my parents, hometown, and extended family. I don’t remember how this realization came, but it turned my life upside down.

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simplicity and solitude

As I slowly, slowly, slowly work through Foster’s book, I discover things Imissed the first several times I read it. > Jesus calls us from loneliness to solitude. The fear of being left alonepetrifies people... Our fear of being alone drives us to noise and crowds. Wekeep up

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strange answers to normal prayers

I was in a new place, facing new fears and new worries. Strangely, though, the answers to my prayers that day haven’t changed. Keeping track over the past few months I’ve discovered some patterns. Here’s a brief summary of the strange answers I get to my daily prayers!

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the tough one

To all my non-Texan friends: everything above is entirely true. We submit to no one. That’s why it’s so hard for me to read these Bible verses:

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good friday

When the balance of mutual submission is broken, does that mean all bets are off and it’s every man for himself? At that point, does anything go and the ends justify the means? Or shall we remain morally neutral and simply avoid the conflict altogether?

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pray

Pray as if God works only in response to prayer. Here are my past posts on prayer: prayer - tatea life observedtate Foster tells us that prayer is the most important of the disciplines. I agree wholeheartedly. As I’ve said before, prayer requires us to open our mind, bringing all

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