There is no better asset, nor worse liability than one’s personal level of commitment. Every commitment is a promise to uphold, and a goal to fulfill.  A commitment is a pledge or promise to ourselves or to others…a promise that reveals whether we are as good as our word. 

Not Every Commitment is Created Equal
We often learn in youth that not every commitment is created equal. Commitment does not always mean the same thing to others as it does to us. People have varying levels of commitment and different priorities in life. Merely saying that someone is committed to a task does not always indicate that a person has the same level of devotion to it as another may have.

It can be disheartening to discover the inequality of commitment that exists between ourselves and others. When we commit ourselves to a cause with someone, we invest ourselves into shared promises and we open our hearts to high hopes and dreams. Unfortunately, however, for whatever reason, we often find that while we remain committed to our dreams, others who have shared our commitments with us lose interest or dedication to our causes, and drift away from all that we have believed in and worked for together. It is difficult to find others who are true to their promises over time and who have the fortitude to retain the same level of commitment that they shared with us from the beginning. Experiences like these can strain relationships or cause people to go their separate ways. Such disappointing and frustrating experiences can make us truly question whether it is worthwhile to commit ourselves to anyone or anything.

Priorities
The commitments we make in life are directly influenced by our priorities. We should always consider priorities, before we consider any commitments. Commitments can be beneficial or detrimental to us, depending on the priorities that lead to our pledges of loyalty.

Dangerous Priorities can Lead to Commitments of Obligation
Committing ourselves to the wrong things in life can bind us and force us into obligation in relationships and activities that are destructive in nature. Choices made in inappropriate priorities tend to be selfish in nature, and yet they can have devastating consequences on oneself and on others.  Drug addiction is an example of a negative commitment that results from poorly chosen priorities. The use of drugs is a conscious decision for many in the beginning – a dangerous decision based on priorities that pursue emotional escape, or excitement. Such negative priorities rapidly deprive us of our choices, however, and obligate us to a physical dependence on the drug. By yielding to the wrong priorities, we become obligated and subservient to them.

Choosing Beneficial Priorities can Free Us from Obligation
Although it may seem counterintuitive, choosing positive priorities can lead us to commitments that free us from obligation. Positive priorities can provide us with greater freedom than we could have without commitment. Positive priorities are not made in selfishness, but in consideration of how they will affect others as well as oneself. Beneficial priorities may not always appear to be as outwardly exciting as negative priorities, but the rewards of such are safer and more enduring. They liberate us from obligation with the benefits of greater joy, peace, and safety. It is always essential to consider the nature of our priorities, their resulting obligations, and the freedoms they offer before we commit to any cause.

Maintaining Priorities
There are some aspects of our lives that we consider more important than others. Some of our priorities will always remain high on our list, while others are not so easily categorized or ordered. There are some priorities that vary in significance to us over time, and which we may more fully embrace or reject as we learn and grow in life.  Our experiences and the lessons we learn from them largely shape our values and the order of our priorities. There are things like family and love that should always be important to us, but there are also aspects like politics and social issues that are more controversial and more difficult to define as good or bad.

Our views and priorities will change significantly in many aspects through the course of our lifetimes. Changes to our priorities are inevitable over time, as we come to share views with others and to learn about ourselves and how the world operates. Changes to our priorities should not be perceived as a bad thing, but rather as an education that is given to us by life. It is foolish to believe that anyone can have all of their priorities in order throughout their lives without making a few changes along the way. It is by learning to become better people and trying to make the world better for others that we learn how to be committed to the right things.

A Commitment to Commitment
While our experiences with others often reveal that many people are unreliable in life, we should not become so disillusioned as to believe that everyone is incapable of commitment. Even more importantly we should not let disappointing past experiences with others prevent us from engaging in worthwhile and beneficial commitments. It is important to realize that the world is filled with people who are in different stages of learning and who believe in a variety of priorities, but there are also people with whom commonality can be found and with whom meaningful commitments and friendships can be made.

Commitments to Ourselves
Our commitments as individuals should be focused on becoming better people who are more able to help others. Every commitment is a promise. We should keep this in mind as we decide what we want to achieve in our lives. Our promises are as important to ourselves as they are to others. We should hold ourselves accountable for the achievement of our goals. We should give our best efforts to all that we find to be worthy of our commitments.

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