It occurred to me tonight that I have never actually put this in writing. I should. So I am.
What follows is a regular process in my life that I call “Renewal of My Commitments” — the method by which any real progress or contentment in my life has been achieved:
First, an affirmation of my gifts.
Second, an acceptance of my flaws.
Third, an acknowledgment of my learning.
Fourth, an acknowledgment of my ignorance.
Fifth, the renewal of my commitments.
Sixth, a reminder of the reality that is unlimited possibility.
(recording available. read on for both it and the text.)
renewal-of-commitments.mp3
I am gifted with the presence of a quick and insightful mind.
I am gifted with the ability to speak and write clearly.
I am gifted with the willingness to be kind.
I am gifted with the talent of understanding.
I am gifted with the motivation toward love of the world and others.
I am gifted with the strength to endure hardships and disappointments.
I am gifted with the respect and trust of others.
I am gifted with the awareness to make rightful use of these things.
I am flawed with the inability to forget bad experiences.
I am flawed with the trait of Olympian stubbornness.
I am flawed with the presence of strong emotions.
I am flawed with the willingness to unleash anger.
I am flawed with the persistence of anticipatory fear.
I am flawed with the burden of having an idealistic perspective.
I am flawed with the lacking of self appreciation.
I am flawed with the intermittent blindness to and of these things.
I have learned that I need to forgive others and myself for the past.
I have learned that I should think before allowing emotions free reign.
I have learned that I am prone to being fearful of abandonment.
I have learned that I am habitually hard upon myself and others.
I have learned that I need to know myself more deeply.
I have learned that I must first be kind to myself.
I have learned that I am never finished with learning.
I have not yet learned how to consistently be reasonably trusting.
I have not yet learned how to consistently accept being misunderstood.
I have not yet learned how to consistently be forgiving of myself or others.
I have not yet learned how to consistently remember we all have more in common than not.
I have not yet learned how to consistently check my emotions before I speak or react.
I have not yet learned how to consistently seek to be kind.
I have not yet learned how to consistently have no expectation.
Renewal of My Commitments:
I renew my commitment to work upon remembering my good parts, embracing my bad parts, exploring my ignorance, and celebrating my achievements.
I renew my commitment to being beneficial to myself so I may be beneficial to others.
I renew my commitment to be as willing to benefit myself as I am interested in benefitting others.
I renew my commitment to be as willing to forgive myself as I am to forgive others… and as willing to forgive others as I am presently unwilling to do so.
I renew my commitment to work upon finding one thing, every day, to smile for, one thing to laugh about, one thing to pay honor to, and one thing to learn.
I renew my commitment to remember those who have hurt me with forgiveness and peace, to wish good fortune upon those who I miss, to do a good deed ‘just because’ whenever I see it is possible, and to be genuinely happy for the happiness of those for whom I care.
I renew my commitment to reiterate to myself regularly the many people I am fortunate to call friends, and to work upon being happy for their presence moreso than being unhappy for what presence I perceive to be lacking.
I renew my commitment to cut myself some slack, and to cut double that amount for those I encounter.
I renew my commitment to flip every negative thought into either a positive one or a humorous one.
I renew my commitment to give freely when I can, and to exercise the wisdom I hold in deciding when the best gift is nothing.
I renew my commitment to refusing gifts that will not benefit me or those giving them.
I renew my commitment to look first for the best of any situation and, if I cannot find it, to say nothing more than that it must be my lack of vision rather than its absence.
I renew my commitment to renew these commitments as often as I must to keep them firmly in mind so as to support the manner of life I would have for myself, and the manner of being that is most enjoyable and helpful to myself and to others.
I renew my commitment to remember that all possibility remains so long as I am willing to acknowledge it and that all things change… thus it is possible for these commitments to be attained as I am part of “all things”.