Until One is Committed-Daily Meditation-6.8.23

Today’s quotation:

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, and always ineffectiveness.  Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: the moment one commits oneself, then providence moves, too.  A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, and material assistance, which no person could have dreamt would have come his or her way.-William H. Murray

Today’s Meditation:

It can be complicated to commit ourselves, especially today when so many people and organizations want us to commit our time, effort, or money to them.  But what if we commit ourselves to this one, and then something better comes along?  What if we get stuck in this commitment and miss out on others?  It’s a question that has gotten much more complicated as the world has gotten smaller, as more people have more ways to influence us, and we have access to many more of these same organizations.

We must take care when we commit ourselves.  Many a marriage hasn’t worked out because one or the other partner hasn’t learned some essential things about their partner-to-be, and find out after the commitment that things aren’t exactly as they seemed to be.  I’ve committed myself to organizations that turned out to be much different than I thought, and it’s been difficult to step out of the situation.

But commitment is necessary if we wish to accomplish something that will last if we wish to live up to our potential and not go through life making no important contributions.  Sometimes, commitments are rather extreme, as when I joined the Army.  But I was ready to make that commitment, and while I was in, I did my best to do the best I possibly could under any circumstances.  When I commit to teaching at a school, I make that school my primary focus in life, and everything else becomes secondary because my students deserve me to be all in with them instead of half with them and half with something else.

Many people are dissatisfied with their jobs because they never fully commit.  They’re simply earning a paycheck and wondering why (and even complaining that) they’re not getting promoted or getting raises when their work reflects that lack of commitment.  When we fully commit ourselves to something, we know it exceptionally well and can do things that otherwise would be impossible.  We don’t have to work 60 hours a week, though, to be committed to work–we still have to balance our commitment and the rest of our lives.  But without that commitment, it’s pretty clear that nothing special is going to occur as a result of the efforts that we make.

Questions to consider:

How easy is it to become overcommitted?  How does this happen?

Why do so many people have difficulty committing themselves to something?

What’s the difference between the work that we do when we’re committed and the work that we do when we’re only mildly interested in it?

For further thought:

We receive from life, from every experience, from each interaction, according to what we have been given.  When we commit ourselves fully to an experience, it will bless us.  When we give ourselves wholly to any moment, our awareness of reality will be heightened.-Karen Casey
Each Day a New Beginning

If you missed the last Daily Meditation, it is here.