Thought: The cost of broken promises
I have always been fascinated by professional swimmers. Their ability to navigate the water and make speed look so effortless is incredible.
In elementary school, my older sister and I wanted to learn how to swim. We asked our parents but in typical Nigerian parent fashion, they turned us down 😅🇳🇬. Later, we discovered they were just afraid.
After repeatedly being turned down by our parents, we decided to ask one of their friends who had access to a swimming pool to teach us.
I remember getting my swimming trunks ready the night before and barely sleeping because I was so excited for the next day.
Well…….. she never showed up. We waited for hours and she never came to pick us up. I will leave her reason for not showing up as a topic for another day. But this was my first memorable experience with someone breaking a promise.
Regardless of your age or background, I’m sure you’ve experienced or heard of a situation where someone didn’t follow through on a promise, failed to do what they had agreed to or flat out lied.
Broken promises lead to hurt, disappointment, and sometimes cause irreparable relational damage depending on the situation.
One of the most important decisions you can make today is to be a man or woman of your word. (Btw, if you decide to do this, you won’t say yes to everything because that means you’ll have to follow through)
There will be situations where you can’t fulfil a promise you made. But being a man or woman of your word means taking responsibility. And in some cases, taking responsibility means apologizing for hurt you might have caused or a wrong you did.
Let your words count! Let them be worth something!
The last thing you want is people associating your name with lies, broken promises and a lack of integrity.
Be serious and honest about your commitments to others. It is more important to be honest than to try to please everyone.
If you want to have a good reputation, be a man or woman of your word.
Rooting for you always!
