Are you committed?

Committing to post on my blog every single day in October is proving to be an interesting exercise. Some days, I can’t wait to post as there is something on my mind that I want to share. Other days, like today, it’s more of a challenge. I have been working in my professional capacity all day and am just finishing up. I found myself tired, stressed and with a headache. It’s Saturday and all I wanted to think about was cooking something easy and getting to sleep. But I’m a perfectionist and I didn’t want to leave my blog post till tomorrow and have to catch up.

I decided to try and turn things round. I downloaded a meditation from Sarupa Shah’s Facebook page and told the Teenager I would be meditating and not to disturb me. (This didn’t stop him from knocking on the door half way through to tell me he was going out.) The meditation was about finding your personal power and I gradually started to feel a lot better: calmer, energised and even a little inspired! I certainly recommend trying the meditations on this page if you are at all interested; Sarupa an inspiring person!

This got me thinking about the nature of commitment. It’s only because I’m committed to the blog challenge that I was willing to take action to change my state, even though it would have benefitted both me and the people around me if I had done this anyway. I’m quite prepared to admit that, if I didn’t have any writing to do, I’d have mooched through the rest of the evening feeling a bit sorry for myself and preoccupied with my headache. But when I blog, I want it to be creative and inspired; just finding any old ideas and words won’t do. And I need to feel good to do that!

So what about commitment to other things and how does it affect us? A long time ago I committed to a spiritual path and I know that this commitment is sometimes what keeps me, like many of my friends, on an even keel when things are hard and painful. Committing to routines and practices, and to principles and ideals, helps us to keep going despite feeling down, wavering faith or tempting distractions.

This year, I have made further commitments, in particular to the very regular practice of gratitude. Not only has my practice continued throughout the year, but it has grown and deepened and I have become more interested in the different ways I can bring it into my life. I’ve read more books about it, blogged and written about it, and talked about it far more than I would have thought possible. As I’ve mentioned before, my daily existence has become richer and more enjoyable as a result. And I really do believe that this has come from the simple decision to commit to practicing gratitude every day.

Had I not made the commitment, I don’t think I would have made the effort to keep up my daily gratitude practice when I had suddenly to fly to the Middle East in February when my father was taken ill. Or during a particularly low time after I returned. And I absolutely believe that this practice, along with other daily routines which I also started at the beginning of the year, sustained me through the more difficult times.

So this is my thought for Saturday, starting from no inspiration at all and the simple desire to find something to write a couple of hundred words about! I’d love to know how being committed helps you and if there is something you feel you could commit to, that would benefit you. I am certainly going to give that some thought now!