Reason #297: Thoughts on Commitment

Posted at March 27, 2010

What is commitment? Websters defines it as “the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled, such as a commitment to a cause.” I can think of similar words to describe such a state…words like dedicated and driven. But I like commitment, maybe because it also signifies a sense of being, well, a little nuts. A little nuts is good. The so-called “nuts” among us are the ones that typically make life better for the rest of us who suffer from hyper-sanity. We even use the word “commitment” or “committed” when referring to consignment to a penal or mental institution. Now that’s real “commitment.” But I was thinking the other night, after a few too many glasses of wine, what commitment means to me…and why it should be meaningful at all. So I pose in this post the question, what is commitment? A word? A value? A lifestyle? A system of belief or habit? An avenue of success in life? It is all those things, because you see I believe that without some level of commitment, your life really isn’t about anything. You are just wandering about, searching for the path of least obstruction and perhaps most destruction. Commitment imparts true life. Therefore, I am committed, or perhaps, at least, I should be. Life itself is a commitment. We never want to take life, or ourselves, over-seriously, but commitment does impart a note of seriousness to life, in that there is something about it (life, that is) that you truly care about, that really matters to you. The sad thing is, that most of the time, self-interest will trump commitment. Often that self-interest will be disguised under a label such as personal freedom, or individual right. So we trudge through life feeling that what is most important is to continuously feed our egos and that becomes life’s most vital commitment…a commitment to me. What are you committed to? Making the world a better place, or just making sure your place in it takes up as much room as possible? To find out what your true purpose in life is you simply need to complete this statement, “I am committed to ___________.” Being committed does not imply absence of fear, but action in spite of it.