Keeping a promise to oneself is in my opinion, harder than keeping a promise to others. If you promise your friend your going to pick her up at 2 a.m. from the bar 20 minutes downtown, there is a good chance you'll be sipping on your iced coffee to stay awake. If you promise your sister you'll take her shopping Sunday afternoon, most people will keep that day clear. The reason we keep promises to other people, is because we don't want to disappoint those we care deeply for. We don't want to leave our friend stranded at 2 a.m. trying to drunkenly call an Uber. Our sister is important to us, therefore we want to check Forever 21's new swim line, because it's important to her. On the other hand, keeping promises to ourselves are much harder.
This summer, I made a huge promise to myself, I am determined to keep it. I know that this promise is without a doubt the most important one that I have ever made to myself. Throughout my life, I have made over a million promises to myself, and I'm willing to bet we all have. Whether it be i'll finish studying tomorrow, i'll get to sleep early, or i'll wait an hour to text him back. These are all minor, but this summer promise I made is very important to me, and I feel is necessary to improve on myself. I almost ruined all of my handwork and dedication, just because of an impulsive decision.
The main reason we break promises, is temptation. You get invited to a party, and your promise to study tomorrow goes out the window. Netflix uploads the news season for the show you've been binge watching, and you're going to sleep at 4 a.m. After six minutes of staring at the clock and a vision of his blue eyes, and we both knew you're not waiting an hour. Temptation is hard to resist, and there is a reason why it's so appealing. Doing the wrong thing is fun, but only when there is minimal consequences. We don't like breaking promises to our friends and family, because we don't want them to be mad at us. On the other hand, we constantly break promises to ourselves, because we feel we're not hurting anybody.
Breaking a promise to yourself, is basically saying that your word isn't important and that they are meaningless. If we want others to trust us, we have to trust ourselves first. Don't let the allure of being "bad" distract you from your goals and promises. Temptation is enticing, but keeping a promise to yourself is going to taste so much sweeter in the end.
