Two Words

The weekend is almost here. I desperately want it to be here to escape from school for awhile. Tutoring in and of itself can be exhausting, especially when dealing with certain kinds of students. So, I say with joy, TGIT! I don’t work Fridays so TGIT indeed.

That is not the purpose of this post, though. Actually it is about two words that people should never use, or should use a heck of a lot less. Any ideas? I am sure there are plenty of two word phrases you shouldn’t use, but there is one that really needs to be moderated carefully: “I Promise.”

Why should these words be used with discretion? Think about the implications and messes caused by these two words alone (especially in regards to children). Hurt feelings and misunderstandings come with each broken promise, not to mention that a person’s faith and trust fails a little more each time a person breaks a promise.

The words “I promise” are used entirely too readily, without truly regarding whether or not what follows those words can actually be done. This is of course, not including people who promise just to promise and really have no intention of ever going through with their word. But you can usually figure out (albeit after a few disappointments) that you take what those people say with a grain of salt. No, the real problem lies with the unintentionally broken promise.

A person can make a promise and then fully intend to go through with it, but life just is not predictable. Things can change at a moments notice and before you know it, you could have just hurt someone by breaking the promise you were so sure you could fulfill. They say “hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned” and that is true, but it’s even worse to witness a child’s disappointment in you and it hurts to see them begin to go down the path of not trusting a word that parents or adults say. Though you really shouldn’t trust all parents and adults, it’s still hurtful to watch.

I have learned not to use those words, even if I am pretty sure I can actually achieve what I would promise. It is in fact a family rule to not make promises. If you don’t make them, you can’t break them and feelings can be spared and misunderstandings avoided. So next time those words are about to come out of your mouth, you might want to step back and think.

And does this have any basis whatsoever to my beginning? Yes, it actually does. I have made plans and definitely wanted to see them through, but it looks like my careful planning might come to naught. So, I have made it my responsibility to tell the friend I was supposed to visit that “I make no promises” because living with someone whose health is not good, it is hard to make plans and stick to them every time. Responsibility is grand.