Commitment. What a wonderful yet often terrifying word. It’s so very easy to stay on the sidelines, or put one foot in while the other just can’t make it to the other side. Human nature has a way of avoiding the “all in”. Whether it’s relationships we find ourselves swimming in, the jobs we have been hired to do, the care of our families, or simply the tasks necessary to pull off the thing we call everyday – we have decisions to make.

The day I arrived at my wedding location, I looked around and said to myself what I am sure every blissful bride says, “Oh crud, what am I doing? Am I really going through with this thing?” My discussion with myself ended with, “Everyone is here, so I guess so.” Then I did. Yep, great commitment on my part, don’t you think? But it wasn’t that day of panic that made my marriage strong, it has been each day that both my husband and I said we were all in. We were going to make this thing work. Both of us (it can’t be only one of you) had made a commitment we weren’t backing down from. I am so glad that on that day I jumped in.

You are building your career. You are pursuing a healthy relationship. You are rearing children. You are growing in your faith. Whatever balls you have in the air, have one goal: to keep that boat called life afloat. To do any of this well you have to commit. It requires that you say I’m all in, not going to get off this train. I’m taking it to the next station even if I’m puking out the window when the curves on that track come.

To do any of this well you have to commit

Here’s the good news, you don’t have to do everything perfect, you don’t have to be on at all times. You can take a sick day from work, pass over the dirty dishes, veg in front of a movie marathon, let the kids skip a bath and go to school in dirty clothes. You can escape the home to buy a new pair of shoes so you don’t take that argument to the next level. But if you want anything to succeed you have to commit. It’s bigger than a promise; it’s a clear thought-out pledge you truly intend to keep.

Prior to forming that allegiance be sure that what you commit to is worthy. Never commit to a shallow substitute, a man who won’t commit, a dead-end job, a compromised life. Instead the commitment you make, whether verbal or in your heart, should be made to something that holds real promise.

Everything in my life that is important today: my marriage, my careers, my family, my faith – came from those first commitments, I was all in. My rewards are so great, my returns are so rich dear friend, that I can promise you this: if you too commit to what you know to be no shallow substitute, but to your life’s true treasure, yours will be too.