I remember promises I’ve made aloud (with witnesses) where I didn’t do what I promised.
I’m not just talking about marriage vows we’ve made once or twice or ~ well, you get my meaning. Commitments we make – innocuous ‘I’ll meet you at 1:30’ or ‘I’ll have that to you tomorrow morning’ – not much different. Causes me to question what I promise.
Promise/assurances made in good faith, yet we often don’t do what we said, when we said we would as faithfully/perfectly/happily/productively as we imagined we would when promise was uttered.
We are no better or worse than anyone – we simply choose to be better or worse.
So, which promises matter?
I can count on you.
Absolutely.
Don’t worry – you can count on me.
We promise …
Mostly true, most of the time. For most people.
Indeed.
If something matters enough to warrant a promise, then making a promise is not only worthy – isn’t it required? If making it matters, then keeping it should matter even more.
Yes, we would all like a do-over on many experiences in our lives. I can’t. But what I can do, is govern very carefully what I do now, what I do next, what I promise now, what I promise next – and whether I just get one more chance or a thousand new chances, they aren’t worth a pinch of coon-shite if every one of them isn’t treated as the most important promise I ever made.
How many do I want?
There are two which come to mind. Too soon to tell, too soon to be making promises, but never too soon to be thinking about them.
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