“It’s cold,”  the boy said as he placed a foot into the water.

“Come on in” his friend replied, “it’s not bad once you get used to it.”

The boy tensed up and let himself fall into the pool, completely emerging his body.  Soon the two friends were playing together and he completely forgot about the cold water.

In life, when you commit to something it becomes much easier.  Much like trying to swim with one foot in the pool and one foot on the dry land - living without committing is similar.  Take for example, when you are relaxing at night, and you keep “one foot at work” by continually checking your messages and keeping tabs on your work.

Or when you are trying to exercise and you keep one foot elsewhere, by watching the news, reading a newspaper, or communicating with others miles away.  This is not “commitment” to the current moment, or to the thing that you are doing at the current moment.  When you are with friends, and you play a game with strangers on your gizmo, you are not committing to the conversation with “both feet”.

Life is about commitment.  When you commit, you become free.  When you become free you begin to understand the bigger picture of all.  That is why commitment in relationships is so important – so that you are “all in” with both feet.  Otherwise, you cannot move forward with one foot in the relationship, and another foot waiting to move in a different direction.

The same is true in your place of work.  When you are fully committed, you are not looking elsewhere for employment.  You are devoting all work-related energies to your current job and employer.  Yes, there may be a time, when you decide that you need to find a different job, but to continually have one foot in one job and another looking elsewhere will never lead to happiness in your work.

Similarly, people in relationships that keep one foot outside of the conversation, will miss the opportunity to connect with the people before them.  This can become a real issue with the current direction of the world, with the availability of so much information in everyone’s pocket.  Keep your gizmo put away and enjoy the people before you.  For you should always choose personal contact rather than disconnected, electronic contact.

Look for areas in your life where you have not fully committed.  It may be with something as simple as commitment to the car that you drive, or to the home where you live.  Make a conscious decision to either drive your car, or to make plans to purchase a different one.  The same is true with your job, your relationships, your home, your career, and just about everything you encounter on a daily basis in your life.

When you make a conscious decision to “jump in” and commit, you will feel a sense of freedom from the weight that has been holding you back.  Allow yourself to enjoy that freedom knowing that any decision you make is exactly where you need to be at this moment in your life.  If you look back someday and say that you should have done something else, you will always know that the commitment that you made was necessary for this life’s journey.

Someday, that may be evident to you, but often it is not.  You simply need to trust that everything is in perfect order, and that you cannot make a wrong decision, so long as you believe it is coming from your truth and does not harm another.

InspiraCard

Look for areas in your life where you have not jumped into the pool with both feet.  Make a decision to either commit or to find another pool elsewhere.  Commitment is freeing, and allows for you to be fully engaged in your life.

Written Sun Mar 30, 2014, 10:03 – 10:16 AM MT