Commitment pt1

I made a commitment to myself to write something in this blog everyday. Some days the muse is with me and I have no trouble at all coming up with a topic to write about and am filled with things to say. Often this is to the point where I end up making several posts at once to keep you from being ambushed by a veritable wall of text. And other days I simply sit here and stare at this screen with no idea what to do or say. I have since renegotiated that commitment to I will write an average of one post per day. And on the days that I am "ahead", if I decide not to write anything, then I am okay with that.

But what is a commitment? Simply put, it is a promise that something will or will not occur.  The act of saying that you will make sure something happens is a commitment. It is a promise, even if you do not, at any point, actually say the word promise. When you start a new job and your prospective employer tells you that the job starts at eight,  by telling him or her that you want the job, you are committing to showing up no later than eight o'clock .  Every time you stroll in at 8:03 like nothing is wrong you are breaking that commitment. When you get your driver's license you sign your name to a form stating that you agree to follow all the traffic laws. You are making a commitment not to speed, run red lights, or hit other cars.  Every single time you are on the highway and you decide to go ten miles an hour over the speed limit just because that is what everyone else is doing, you are breaking that commitment.  When you say that you will stop an addictive habit such as drinking, doing drugs or smoking, every time you indulge in the habit you are breaking a commitment.

You might say, so what, nobody is getting hurt when I break my commitments. That simply isn't true though.  In the workplace, when someone is late, or worse yet doesn't show at all, others often end up shouldering the increased workload. In a car, you are much more likely to hurt yourself and others when breaking traffic laws than when you are not. You may be careful and even have quick enough reaction timing to keep control of your vehicle when doing something risky or even stupid, but the people around you may not.  The laws aren't there just to govern you. They are there for the safety of everybody.  And with drinking, drugs and smoking, there is always at least one victim, even if it is just you.  The worst thing of all though, is other people notice when you break commitments, even if it is only subconsciously.  If you do it enough, your word will completely lose all value in the eyes of others. Saying one thing and then doing something different is quite often called lying, especially if you had no intention of keeping the commitment in the first place.

Does the thought of your word having no value bother you? Does it hurt to think you are showing the world they should just ignore you because nothing you say has any meaning?

That would drive me crazy. Come back tomorrow for pt2