Commitment is a word that has gotten a bad rap in the last generation and is a word in bad need of a reality check. The definition of commitment is ”dedication, allegiance, loyalty, faithfulness, fidelity” ….what’s to knock about any of that? Me thinks it is not what commitment is as much as the mis-use of the word commitment to mean handing ourselves over to others…..clearly not what the true definition of commitment is!
When working with a client, one of our core exercises is up-dating concepts and words from having meaning and power outside of ourselves to claiming their meaning and power within ourselves. Commitment is no different; it is a word and a power first applied to oneself. What do I commit my precious life and energy to? What commitment do I make regarding my thoughts? Will I commit to my deepest values or simply go along with whatever?
Commitment is needed to create, to grow, to achieve in life. When an acorn commits to growing, it commits to pushing up against the darkness and weight of the soil for reaching the sunlight it needs to grow into an oak tree. As human beings, we live our days by committing to some level of faith and trust of the unknown; if not, we would never get out of bed!
Women seed, nurture, and contain the creative forces and this grace we flow through us as women relies on our commitment to do so. When we do not commit to being a woman first and make the mistake of committing instead to the duties of roles and expectations of others, we feel the unhappiness and dissatisfaction of committing so. Where we commit as women lies the caliber of our lives as well as those we lead through our vision and wisdom as women.
Once we embrace the power of commitment as women, we offer ourselves the opportunity to surrender to divine grace, a topic I take up in my next blog “Surrendering to the Goddess”….stay tuned!