Day 365 – Mission Accomplished x 8

This is the last day of my eighth consecutive 365 Commitment. Every time I arrive at this point, I ask whether tomorrow should be Day 2,921 or Day 1. I am choosing Day 1 again. Then comes the real question, Day 1 of what?

That, I have learned, is the essential inquiry. My 365 Commitment is a covenant I make with myself and with God, if He chooses to listen, that I will undertake a Herculean effort for 365 days in a row, and that in return I will receive some great boon.

Over time I realized that the best commitments, and the ones most likely to be noticed by divinity, are greater than my own motives. The boon I seek may be personal, yet the commitment itself must be bigger; it should serve my family, my community, and society.

Another lesson is that layups do not count. I cannot design an easy pledge and expect it to matter. Each subsequent 365 Commitment must raise the stakes; after I speak it aloud, I should feel a measure of fear and trepidation about what I am about to undertake.

The work should cost me something. In the early stretches it ought to sting; in the middle it should grind; toward the end it may grow easier, yet the day to day effort still needs to press me, to make me suffer just enough that the prize is worthy of the price.

This may sound strange, but every time I have done this, I kept the commitment, and the boon I sought arrived. Perhaps I should have aimed higher; perhaps I should have asked for more. Even so, I sense that I receive in proportion to what I give. It feels like a law woven into the fabric of the world.

One final reminder to myself, this is something I must choose every day. Every day is every day, and it begins tomorrow. I commit now; I take the first hard step; and when the next day comes, I ride at dawn.