Is There Freedom in Commitment?

 

Hola,

I was struck the other day when I saw someone say that being married or having children you aren't free. Because I don't feel that way.

It brought me back to many years ago when I was in a seminar and the seminar leader said "there is freedom in commitment."  At the time I totally thought that was impossible but that stayed with me for awhile.

Sometime after I started thinking about what the seminar leader had said. How can being committed to someone or something be free? 

It when I was getting ready to change careers and go back to school that I saw how this "freedom with commitment worked. 

I wasn't a very good student in hIgh school and my early college days I worked to put my self through college and was focused on my work more. I didn't want my new venture into learning to look like my past. 

So, I made a commitment to myself to attend all classes, pass in all my work and to complete finals. You, see the the choices I made with commitment came from me and not somebody else's rule book.

That's where the freedom comes in. You  get to choose how and what your commitment looks like.

Now, the result was I graduated with honors and went onto earning a master's degree. I feel by choosing to be committed in a different way to my education in a different place and making choices that aligned with that I became successful.

The freedom comes in the choosing and creating how you want your commitment.  The same principles applies to marriage, raising children or any long- term promise people call "restrictive." Yes, these commitments come with responsibilities. But within them, you  still get to choose how to you show up-with presence, creativity, with love that you design on your own terms. 

The cage isn't the commitment itself. The cage is believing  someone else's version of what commitment  has to looks like.

Commitment doesn't lock you down-It focusses your freedom. You just have to remember who's doing the choosing.

So here's your challenge: Pick one thing you've been avoiding committing to. Design the rules yourself-your way.Then show up on your terms for one week. See what frees up.

Love and Peace

Ginamarie.