I have never had a problem keeping my word. I believe that when you make a promise to someone, it is a sacred agreement. I find it odd when someone begins a conversation by asking, “Promise not to tell?” Often, they rush headlong into whatever they want to divulge without even waiting for the listener to “promise”. If it is gossip, that person probably immediately and “secretly” shares it with someone else.
A wedding vow is a public promise that is given much “ado”, yet more than half of these promises end in divorce. The promise to love someone “until death do us part” is rarely made with a true understanding of all that it implies. This promise is often made by the very young who have “fallen” in love and who see through rose colored glasses. When this promise is made, more often than not, it becomes a broken promise sooner or later.
I believe that the most important promises we can make are the ones we make to ourselves. When we keep our own promises, we are more likely to keep those entrusted to us by others. I made a promise to myself earlier in the week, to write this blog every day. Admittedly, it has been written late in the day and with eyes half closed, fighting to stay awake. This kind of promise, after a few week’s time, becomes ingrained as routine. Routines can change over time; but we can remain committed until such time as we replace them with new ones.
A promise, just like everything in our experience, is temporary, regardless how sincerely it was made. We should hold ourselves and others to the promises we make, expecting them to be kept; but we must also recognize our human propensity to error. We should always strive to keep those promises that we make to ourselves and we must take seriously those promises we make to others; but we must have hearts filled with compassion and understanding when they are broken.
