“Commitment unlocks the doors of imagination, allows vision, and gives us the ‘right stuff’ to turn our dreams into reality.”
– – – James Womack
I have been deeply moved and affected by the Buddhist monks who recently walked for peace from Ft. Worth, Texas to Washington, D. C. They walked every day for three and a half months and they covered 2,300 miles. I have written about them several times because I can’t get them out of my head. I hope I never do.
What inspired me the most was their devotion to doing something that was very hard for a higher purpose. They walked when they were sick and cold and hungry, but they refused to give up their mission, their dedication to world peace. That was what kept them going. The head monk said, “We don’t stop when we’re tired. We stop when we’re done.”
While I have never attempted anything that difficult. Far from it. But in my own way, I understand the act of committing to something when it isn’t easy. When I was in the ballet, I showed up at the studio every day to train and practice and rehearse. Sometimes I was tired and sometimes I was depressed about something that was going on in my life. Sometimes I was lonely. But I worked hard and my fellow dancers and I encouraged each other, even though we were often in competition for the same role. At the end of each day, we didn’t stop because I was tired. We stopped because we were done.
When we performed, we had something to offer our audience and even when I was injured or had the flu, I didn’t bail. I stayed with it as long as it took and I dedicated my actions to whatever helped me keep on going. I ate well. I slept. I was determined to show up for my fellow dancers and give the audience what they had paid for. I remember spraining my ankle on a slanted stage in Italy and continuing to dance.
There are a number of places where that kind of commitment shows up in my life. I take a four mile walk in a park with a friend three times a week. Barring illness or injury, we are always there to do what we consider our mission. As we age, we want to keep ourselves healthy and strong and we encourage each other. I don’t always head to the park with enthusiasm. A lot of the time, I have some dread that I’m about to put out so much energy. While we walk, sometimes I get bored. I get tired. But I keep my commitment to do something that I know is good for me. Something that will allow me to have a good life, find some peace, and be there for people when they need me.
Writing this blog is a commitment I made a long time ago. I catch myself telling myself that maybe I could not do it this week and pick it up next week, but I know better. I know that I’ll feel disappointed
in myself and how hard it will be to get back into the routine. I think about people who are loyal to me and read my blog every week so when I can’t do it for myself, I do it for them.
Sometimes I know exactly what I want to write, but often, I have no idea. It takes patience and commitment to sit there and wait for an idea. It takes patience and commitment to start a few times before I get on track and find a subject that resonates with me. But I stay there and wait and it always works out.
Being committed to something or someone isn’t easy. It requires work. Marriage takes a dedication to
communication. Competitive athletes dedicate themselves to daily practice. Artists of any sort work have to find the courage to create something new. And as the monks demonstrate, a good life takes a commitment to finding inner peace every day and sending it out into the world to everyone.
I had a friend who was a wonderful composer. He wanted to make an album but when he got up in the morning, instead of going into this studio, he found a million other things that distracted him. If he had made a commitment to his music, he would have gone into that studio
over and over until he found what he was looking for.
It’s easy to find out what you want and make a vow to get it. It’s exciting to imagine how to reach your goals. But it isn’t so easy to take the first step and keep on going, step after step, even when you get bored, tired and discouraged. Commitment means doing what you said you would do, even when your enthusiasm wanes, even though everything in you wants to stop. It’ll come back eventually if you stick with it. It you don’t, you’ll get left with the feeling that things are unfinished and you’ll have no idea how to get going again.
Committing to slow but sure will help you stay loyal to what you want to do, even when the going gets rough.
“If you are facing in the right direction, all you need to do is keep
walking.”
— Buddhist proverb
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