Commitment is a heavy word to me. It is something I have struggled with all of my life. It isn't so much that I didn't believe in what I was committed to but rather that I have "Shiny Object Syndrome." The inability to focus on one thing is really a function of awareness of other possibilities.
The problem I have with commitment is my fear of redundancy. I see the drone of having to do the same thing, every day for the rest of my life as more like a prison sentence than a gift. Even so, I have always known that the very definition of greatness is having the ability to master one thing better than anyone else and to do that you have to do something over a long period of time.
Bach never thought about being a baker. Michelangelo never considered being a lawyer. What made me ever think that I should do anything else but what I was good at and still be able to master it when the greatest at anything were masters of that one thing?
I think for me it stemmed from my trip to Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia, Monticello. It introduced the concept of "The Renaissance Man" who could delve into various studies and be successfully active in different areas of expertise. Although he was good at many things I don't think one could argue he was necessarily great at any of them.
One problem with commitment is that I believe it requires too much of our future thinking ability. Thinking about the big picture often makes the tiny steps to its fulfillment seem insignificant and somewhat a waste of time. When, in contrast, if you are focusing on being successful on the scale of today, the now, then the rest of time will lead to a committed life.
The saying shouldn't be, "Till death do us part" but rather saying "Today I'm doing this." and there is no tomorrow.
Every mountain is too high to climb every day. But, the what we can do today is fulfilling in its own merit. The perpetuity of action in the now leads to an apparent commitment in hindsight.
In making commitment more than it is I have wasted a lot of time worried about all of the other possibilities of what else I may do.
I'm not sure commitment is all it is cracked up to be because it promises too much in the long run and too little in the short run. Even now after all of the years of looking for a better way I ignore what it is I am doing at the moment.
Well, this is an early morning topic and now I am sleepy again.