Beloved Friends and Colleagues,
Another Sunday has come around. And you are all welcome to today’s Sunday Digest. I am willing to reflect today on ‘Keeping of Promises and the Challenges of Strengthening the Bridges of Trust”. In our daily social interactions with one another, in our families and neighbourhoods, and among our friends and colleagues, in our work places, and in fact, where ever we are in contact with others, whom we know or wish to assist or otherwise, we continue to make promises of one kind or the other. The promises are, as it were our immediate contribution to the situation in which we find ourselves, should we not be in the immediate state to carry out the expectations or requests of others around us. Our promises come up in different forms. It could be in the form of time, money, talent and the likes. It could be about anything we think we are able to do for the other or otherwise.
Why make Promises? I think we make promises for diverse reasons. Most probably, we make promises because we are not immediately ready for the requests or expectations of others around us. And we do not wish not to lend a hand of assistance. And so we make promises to meet the desires of others, to assist people, to put ourselves in the shoes of others. In fact, we cannot explain all the reasons why people make promises. They are as numerous as the sands on the sea shore. But the truth is that, promises are signs of our willingness to do a thing for the other, which we are not immediately able or disposed to do. In summary, it is a willingness to identify with the other in their expectations and requests.
Do we keep all our Promises? Here comes the question. We are sure everyone makes promises in one way or the other, and at one time or the other. But do we keep our promises? Yes of course we do, but not all the promises. In other words, we keep some of our promises and do not keep some of them. So are we selective of promises to keep and others not to keep? If we know we would not keep them, why did we make the promises? Or we did not know that, we would not be able to keep the promises? And if this is the case, what did we do, when we realized we would not be able to keep the promises we have made?
The Challenges of not keeping our Promises. It is sufficiently true that we do not keep all our promises. Sometimes, we forget that we even made some promises. At some other times, we remember them but are not still able to keep them. It becomes even a burden when others remind us of the promises we have made in the past. And yet we are still not able to keep them. We become worried about our personality and character. We begin to think about how others will perceive us and our personality. We may feel bad within ourselves. But the truth remains, that we have made promises and we have been unable to fulfil them. And our would-be beneficiaries are disgusted about us. This disgust erodes our bridges of trust with other people.
The way out of the labyrinth is not an easy one. Yes, we must look for this way. We must look for the way out of that quagmire. We cannot live with the image of one who is not able to keep his or her promises. This image destroys our personality. It erodes the public capacity to trust us. And we cannot live a good life, without a modicum of public trust and confidence. Whoever loses it has already died in the flesh though he or she walks around in shadows. And so all of us, ought to begin anew, to think of the promises we have made, we are making or we shall make in the future. There is no one who is not guilty in one form or the other. But we can all pick our lives up and forge ahead. Life is for those who are able to pick up bits and pieces of their lives and move on with confidence in the future. After all, no one can live in the flesh without one promise or the other; and no one can realistically keep all ones’ promises always, without forgetting to do so, even with the best of good will.
Our promises in our Workplaces! It is obvious we make promises in our work places. It is also axiomatic that we do not keep all of them. And any unkept promise impacts negatively on others and their performances. You can imagine a scenario where promises are made and reminders are sent, and nothing happens. It breaks down the walls of trust. It paralyses a system. And it makes human relationship utopian. We must do all within our powers to become today, more conscious of our promises and the limits of our powers. Sometimes, we are carried away with the good will to help others. And we discover later, we would not be able to keep such promises. Sometimes it is difficult to say No. But it is more satisfying to hear No than a Yes that would never be kept. Maybe some of us are guilty of this, and today, is a new day, to learn from the pitfalls of the past, and cast our confidence in the ever brightening future of endless possibilities and opportunities. The die is cast!
