practical inquiry regarding meaning » value » commitment / will do
Choosing one course of action eliminates the possibility of taking all other possible courses of action, and so it would seem that the process of committing is restrictive. While this is true in a sense, what's perhaps more true is that possibilities are opened up by making commitments. That's the whole reason for making them. Committing to practice one's instrument daily opens the possibility of joining the band. Committing to training in the gym daily opens the possibility of joining the sports team. And so on. True, choices constrain us, but that allows us to channel our limited energy in a focused direction, opening previously unavailable possibilities in that direction.
Choosing which possibilities to pursue by limiting oneself to a few can be a challenge. This is where consulting the past can help. While committing is futurally-oriented, since it's involved in foreseeing possibilities, the trajectory of our commitments extends, not just from the present to the future, but along that arrow deep into our past. What commitments have been fruitful in our own past? What have others before us made commitments to, and what possibilities did it open for them? The deeper into the past we can trace our current trajectory, the better informed we will be when it comes to proceeding into our future.
