“The biggest commitment you must keep is the commitment to yourself.” – Neale Donald Walsch
Have you ever made a commitment to someone or something and then later wondered, “Oh my God, what have I done? What if the commitment is to yourself? Do you take that as seriously or is it easier to blow it off? I know I haven’t always taken commitments to myself as seriously as I have taken others. Then, there is the question of whether or not the commitment is reasonable which makes it even more confusing and can create a lot of guilt if you don’t follow through.
Is it reasonable to commit on Sunday evening to lose 10 lbs the next week – or even 5? Is it reasonable to commit to exercising everyday if you haven’t gotten off the couch for months – or to finish a major project that has been collecting dust in your closet?
It’s easy to get excited about an idea and make a commitment to yourself or someone else and then later realize it wasn’t very realistic. Do you feel guilty and criticize yourself or do you try to make yourself do it anyway? Or, do you rethink the whole thing and try to set a more realistic goal? Do you take personal commitments more seriously when you share them with someone else?
I am excited about this blog and sharing my ponderings with other women who might be dealing with the same issues. It is also very scary because it is so personal. I decided to blog once a week to start. Is that reasonable? My sane self says yes. The voice in my head clearly has a different opinion -“How are you going to think of something to write every a week? What if nobody is interested in what you have to say? Just who do you think you are anyway?” And on it goes…
So, last week I was having coffee with a friend who is a very talented artist, and we were discussing the idea of commitment. I told her I wanted to blog once a week, and she had some things she wanted to commit to regarding her art projects. We agreed to have a mini Master Mind group and share our progress with each other every week. Oh great – now I’ve made a commitment to someone else! And oops…. by writing this here, I’ve made a commitment to you! (The voice is freaking out!) I think this will be part one of commitment, and I’ll do a follow up in a few months about how it feels then so stay tuned!