What Are You Committing To?

First published on August 31, 2017

We make commitments all the time. Sometimes we break them. Sometimes after days, sometimes weeks, sometimes years. 

Sometimes breaking our commitments makes no difference to anyone else. Sometimes it inconveniences them. Sometimes it breaks their hearts. 

And sometimes we hold to those commitments, to the ends of the earth. Sometimes wisely, sometimes blindly. 

The power of a commitment, is that it holds you when you doubt. The strength of them is often decided by the depth of the commitment, and the place you are making it. 

Sometimes this commitment is to ourselves. Sometimes our Future Self - we are grateful to our Past Self for the commitment he held to. Sometimes the commitment is to our Past Self - to show her that we have learned from the trials, tribulations and joys that she experienced. Sometimes it is a commitment made by our Past Self, which we are holding to in order to honour him. 

And sometimes our commitment is to someone else. To a lover, a parent, a child, alive or dead. To a leader, a follower, current, past or future. And sometimes, our commitment is to something bigger. To the depths of our soul, which is calling us. To the universe, which is asking us. 

So ask yourself, which commitments am I holding to? And which am I not? To who or what did I make this commitment? 

For sometimes we get confused. Sometimes we hold to commitments from the past, commitments never asked of us. Or commitments to someone, within us or out there, who we now know was wrong. 

Sometimes our commitment to safety, to comfort, to adventure, to rebellion, takes us somewhere. And in that place we lose sight of the commitments that we once made. The promises we made ourselves, or others. Sometimes safety, comfort, adventure and rebellion aren't what we need. 

And here. Here is the question. What is the deepest commitment you are making? Looking inside. What is your deepest self asking of you? What is life asking of you? And what, here, are you willing to commit to? 

You don't have to tell anyone. You might not change anything, but the power is in the question. Because then, then, you can decide. Then you can look at the commitments you are breaking, leaving to drift, and you can see that you have chosen these. You have chosen another commitment over this one. And that is human. That is the challenge of our life. To change our commitments, with clarity and conscience, with courage and with love. With the knowledge that we are not perfect, and sometimes we need to shift the commitments we have. With forgiveness, for ourselves, and for others. 

With integrity - for this is who I am. And it is not who I was before. And perhaps something is calling me. Something deeper. Something bigger.