When Commitment Smacks You in the Face

I think we’ve all faced this challenge one time or other. We’ve either been acting in a job or been in a situation where we’ve reaped benefits without bearing the corresponding costs. We see it a lot in de facto and boyfriend/girlfriend relationships. It’s getting away with less commitment.

Then the situation equalises. Suddenly it all changes and we get committed. We either get the job fulltime, permanent, or we get married and then the uphill battle commences; the one thing that seemed like a doddle is all of a sudden plain hard work. This is when commitment smacks us right in the face like a wet towel.

Times like this, when even the easiest of things begin to get difficult, we need someone or something to sustain us on the journey. We need to know that we’re going to be rewarded richly for the commitment we’ve made. It might seem like hard work, but the time will come sooner rather than later when all the tedium will have settled, and the second wind comes. There is a reward we can look forward to. It’s finding it that counts.

Commitment is hard for everyone. When there’s nowhere to run and nowhere to hide we have to face our challenges and threats head on. It seems scary but it needn’t be. There’s a certain safety in commitment. We can settle into some sort of routine or groove. We can also identify where little gaps for improvement might lie. We can begin to enjoy the ride.

The only occasion that commitment might actually hinder us is when we know we’ve definitely made the wrong choice. Again, we’ve all made medium- to long-range plans and gotten cold feet. It’s the cost of commitment that we’re counting right there. Think about it, there are both costs and benefits. But, in the end, nothing beats decisiveness... deciding to commit is peace in the end.

Copyright © 2008, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.