It provides a challenge for some people while it leaves others shaking in their shoes. The very word has a dark aura about it.

I'm talking about commitment.

While the normal image that this provides is usually related to relationships, I have been learning for the past few years in college about the importance of commiting to any and every decision that comes up. After realizing how much this could have benefited me earlier on, I want to convey its importance by taking to the Internet.

The most thorough definition I could find of the word as I interpret it was this particular entry in the Oxford English Dictionary:

The state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, ideology, activity, etc.; the action of devoting oneself to something or someone; devotion, dedication.

Being as articulate as possible, it's as dynamic as any dictionary definition can arguably be. (I'm sure there are some exceptionally boring dictionary entries out there.) But by being a formal definition, it can be difficult to understand what "devoting oneself to something" entails. I look to my life for some examples:

I commit to the school organization I'm a part of by being on its staff. I pour my heart into my work to do the best to provide a home away from home for the members, whose "homes" could be as close as a 15-minute drive up the highway to as far as a 12-hour flight across the ocean.

I commit to my dance team by pushing myself beyond my limits at practice. I work hard and respect our leading choreographers by giving them my attention and dancing my hardest to make them and the rest of our team proud of our work.

I commit to my education by doing my best to go above and beyond expectations. I break through minimum expectations whenever possible to make it so that feelings of complacency in my schoolwork don't get in the way of my own personal growth and enrichment.

Probably as my strongest example, I commit to myself by staying true to myself. Over time I've been doing my best to become more self-aware and I have a pretty good idea of who I am at this time. I know what works for me and what doesn't, what I like and what I don't like. If I don't know something, I do my best to educate myself on whatever topic that something may be and see if I can choose an existing side or make my own platform if necessary. (It's not like you can give unique and individual input on everything.) With my personal knowledge, I commit every time I own up and stand for something I believe in, even when others tell me that I should believe otherwise.

Unifying all the different examples, I learned through my own experiences what commitment can mean in the context of my life. Through all my commitments, I continue to develop and ultimately create the form that is my character. I urge you as well to look at the world and look at yourself, and think about where you fit in it all: find what you like and what you don't, what you agree and disagree with, what you want and don't want.

It's your life. Live it as only you can. Educate yourself and find what you truly and firmly believe in. And when other people tell you to think otherwise, keep believing.

Commit.

I'ma keep runnin' / 'Cause a winner don't quit on themselves.
(Beyoncé, "Freedom")