Seeker Magazine February 2005
 


Commitment

Susan Kramer

Commitment - centering our energy upon a specific
and following through.
Through commitment
we develop willpower
perseverance
and the courage
to face difficulties.
Qualities developed in a commitment
carry over
into other aspects of daily living.
It is not so important
what the exact commitment is.
What is beneficial
is the strength we develop
being true to something or someone.
As an example: While a student, we choose our career goal, then make the commitment to spend the time and energy needed to reach the goal. We use our mind to devise a plan, then systematically follow it to graduation. We decide to use a big allotment of energy to reach our goal, energy that could be used in more leisurely pursuits. We do this because we feel the goal is worthwhile for our future financial support and career satisfaction. We commit our energy till the goal is attained.
Relationships are similar. We water and fertilize the flower of our relationship every day to keep it growing and flourishing. As we feel the happiness we derive in the daily process of living, the commitment becomes 'full feeling.'

We each have a basic desire
to be happy
To feel a sense of harmony within ourselves
extending to others and nature.

We make a big commitment by just living. We say that feeling peaceful and happy inside are worth any expenditure of energy. Sometimes we aren't consciously aware that happiness is our underlying goal, but if we look back we see that everything we have done was done because we wanted to feel happy.

The state of feeling content or happy
is really the goal
of any outward commitment.
It's not a specific activity, job, or relationship
that satisfies us.
What we really want is to feel happy
Therefore we commit ourselves to those activities
we feel will make us happy.

The way to reach this goal is to use our energy in activities and pursuits that do not disturb our personal place of easefulness, that easefulness we naturally feel when free of stresses from trying to get what we don't have and still want.

An experiment

Happiness can be ours at this very moment. Right while reading this, sink into yourself. Feel your body relax and tension drain away. Take a few moments to stop reading and close your eyes - feel how relaxed you become by sinking into your inner state of easefulness. As you begin reading again continue to enjoy this state of easy happiness.
In summary, let's remember that the underlying goal in any commitment is to feel harmony and happiness in our lives. Let's make the commitment to feel this natural state of harmony that is already living within us, and from this place of happiness, interact with care and love in the world.

Relaxed in body and mind
At ease
Happiness can be with us right now - 
It is our natural state of being.


Commitment copyright 2005 Susan Kramer
Photo credit Susan Kramer; full moon rising at dusk in The Netherlands December 26, 2004
web site  http://www.susankramer.com
 email  susan@susankramer.com