By: Dr. Agbenyo.
Vignette
Daddy, I’ll call you right back. Maame, give me a few minutes to get back to you. These are some of the responses I give to my parents whenever they call me in the middle of a procedure. But in most instances I forget and return the calls when I remember, sometimes, days later.
On the other hand, I get so incensed when people give me timelines they don’t meet and don’t even have the courtesy to explain why or apologize.
🥌 Proverbial epistle
Good words which end in broken promises make the heart of those at the receiving end sick and question the integrity of the giver. Zip up or get it done!
💉 Random thoughts
- Do we truly mean it when making promises?
- Are promises really meant to be broken?
- How does it feel to be at the receiving end of broken promises?
🔓 Introspection
A promise is a sacred commitment that is not meant to be broken because it is an assurance similar to a vow where we give a commitment to do, give, arrange something, undertake or declare that an event will happen.
🥊We all make and receive promises which give a sense of deferred hope, and fulfilment of same, makes the heart gladdened. It’s a social capital which, when properly utilised, can open bigger doors in our progress in life and building relationships. Our promises mean the whole world to some people and their actions and aspirations are hinged on that. Breaking them, thus break their whole world too.
🥊 However, life is always changing and/or evolving with respect to our emotions and circumstances. These make some commitments difficult to keep. There are times we all make promises based on certain assumptions and may become impossible to fulfill them when those assumptions do not turn out as expected. Sometimes, we simply forget unintentionally. In such situations, we should not just feel bad about it and leave things hanging. We must try to put in remedial measures to make amends. Should this not remind us to be mindful of the promises we make?
🥊 Unfortunately, the world has become a scene of constant broken promises, many of which are made with the intention to deceive, take advantage of and/or get some people off our back. Oh yes, most of the time we know deep down our heart that they are not meant to be carried through but we package them so nicely to outwit the unsuspecting receiver.
🥊Some people have their conscience seared and employ deceptive promises as their Modus operandi to gain undue advantage. We must not be gullible enough to take all promises seriously. We must learn to test the spirits. If any promise feels too good to be true, we must pause and dig deeper before we commit.
🥊 Sometimes, too, we make fake promises because we feel a clear rejection will be too hard to take. But let’s look at it this way: why keep wasting the person’s time to wait in vain when they could have taken thier chances elsewhere or capitalise on other opportunities?
🥊It can be very devastating and/or destabilizing when people break their promises to us. But this could be worse if we allow broken promises to break us. We must learn to pick up the pieces and bounce back wiser and stronger. We must not be too hard on those who genuinely break their promises and try to make amends too.
🥊 And for those of us who have developed the skills in breaking our promises, we must not forget that we don’t have monopoly in this as we can be played too. Also, we can get sued or suffer other forms of reprisals when we finally meet our match.
🕯️ Serenity 💡
What is more beautiful than promising less and doing more? We must not be known to just talk or make commitments but action oriented. Amen
