Tough days happen. Good days happen. The power of the 365 Commitment is manifold. You might wonder, “How so?”
1) The time construct is daily. Each day contains an ample amount of suffering, so there is no need to add to your load by taking on more than one days’ worth of trouble. Just handle today. 365 Commitment is a daily incremental journey.
2) You define what is most important to you, and you create a vision for what that looks like. This is the prize you are striving for. Keep your eye on the prize. Even when you stumble, get up and keep your eye on the prize and continue to move forward toward what is most important to you. This will help you keep going through anything.
One American General shared his experience at the Hanoi Hilton (Vietnamese POW camp) where they broke him using torture. Everybody breaks. Per usual the tortured soldier loses their self-esteem over this situation. And so did this General. However, he had three things that he was committed to, 1) loyalty to his country 2) loyalty to his family 3) loyalty to himself. These were his most important things; his “prize” if you will. He kept his eye on the prize and that vision kept him moving forward one day at a time through hell, it gave him mental strength, until he made it out the other side. Keeping your eye on the prize works.
3) You work on yourself, not other people. The serenity prayer from the 12 step program speaks to this. I fell asleep in more Alanon meetings from 6-9 years of age (my Mom took me with her) than I can remember, probably hundreds. But I wasn’t always sleeping, I was often listening. In every meeting I would hear this prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” There are many ways to interpret this powerful prayer, but the way I am interpreting it is this: You are powerless to change other people. Accept it, stop wasting time trying. The old saying goes, don’t teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig. However, you have the power to change yourself, commit to it and have courage and humility where appropriate and in proportion.
The 365 commitment is powerful because it unifies these three constructs of wisdom and harnesses them into daily habit. You can do this. What are you waiting for? Carefully identify your prize and then, do not take your eyes off of it, regardless of the suffering or bliss on any given day. When those days come, for good or bad, remember “this too shall pass.” Commit and practice each day, every day, allowing time and effort to multiply, and you will win your prize.
Ben Wagner (35)
Member 365 Commitment
