verb: to do something illegal or considered wrong; to promise or give loyalty, time, or money to a particular principle, person or plan of action
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I am committing this post to the word “commit” in order to fulfill my commitment to both you and myself to post on this blog every week.
Commit is a heavy word. What I mean when I say that is commitment carries weight. It creates expectation for one party and obligation for the other. No changing your mind. No excuses. It’s done, or as good as. Dictum meum pactum: my word is my bond. At least, that’s the way it’s supposed to work…
Unfortunately, people can and do let you down. It’s seldom intentional, but that doesn’t diminish the impact. Whether it be a professional, personal or financial commitment, if you were counting on something that doesn’t happen you are then in the awkward position of having to change plans at short notice, and perhaps even falling short of your own commitments. The fickle reneging on their promises can – and often does – have numerous unforeseen consequences.
As I said earlier: commit is a heavy word. It is weighted with intent, with the will and determination to achieve what we desire, come what may. We commit resources to plans, principles or anything we believe in to make them happen. We commit ourselves to be in a certain place or do a certain thing, come what may. Commitments don’t allow the unpredictability of life to get in their way: “come Hell or high water”, as they say. We are promising to overcome challenges which are unknowable, as they have yet to occur. How? How can we possibly guarantee that in good faith?
It may be with a heavy heart, but we can commit those who may benefit from the care provided there to psychiatric institutions. We can commit things to memory, if we deem them important enough. We can commit utter atrocities if our conscience is lacking or our situation is desperate. But how can we commit to being in a specific place, at a certain point in time? It’s ridiculous! Aside from human error (forgetfulness, etc.), we could be forcibly detained, hospitalised or dead! How can we commit to that…?
The only answer which has come to me so far is that we simply have to have faith. Faith in ourselves. We have to believe we won’t forget, that nothing will – or can – stop us. If we start second-guessing everything that could go wrong, every time we make a plan, we’ll end up going insane! Surely better to risk a broken promise than a broken mind?
Generally, in my opinion, it’s a good risk to take. Commit is a heavy word. If you’re prepared to make a commitment, you’re probably already pretty emotionally invested in that person or cause or whatever it is. Why not believe in yourself? Make a leap of faith. Try your best, and you’ll probably be proud of yourself, whatever the outcome. Just don’t take your commitments lightly.
I hope this post wasn’t too heavy for you, dear reader. Being committed to keeping you as entertained as possible, please let me know in the comments if there’s a specific word you’d like me to post on – as long as I don’t have to think too much, of course!
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