Todays fortune: “Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things.”

An absolutely savage reminder on the second day of doing that there sae 363 more to go. Also, lets not ignore the fact that this is sitting on top of an unfinished NYT Crossword puzzle. That my friends, is the stuff champions are made of.

This fortune was consumed on the coldest day of the year in Minneapolis, banging in at a balmy -16 degrees (-26 C). The woman who I bought it from did not want to accept money for it, but after explaining the project she acquiesced.

I took a minute to think about this one later in the day and realized how true it is. Commitment is pretty directly related with character. I also like the fact that the type of character wasn’t qualified as good or bad. People who I am committed to, and who are committed to me, make this merry go round worth it. Truly dedicated and committed people are the top at anything they set their mind to. I don’t agree with the 10,000 hours philosophy because I feel that people who are masters view themselves as perpetual students, always learning, always curious, and above all committed to their craft.

Also commitment is hard. Think about how often you decide to do something and end up not doing it- this would be an embarrassing number of things for me. However as I age and my character hardens, my commitment becomes resolute  and life becomes easier.  Things like actually leaning forward to scratch my leg instead of doing it with my other foot ,or deciding that the 6 foot walk for a glass of water is worth it in comparison to another 3 hours cotton mouthed binging of Making a Murderer- these things now seem easy tasks.

Committing to other people is the scariest part of the whole commitment game. People change, we are dynamic, every one of us is like the water of a river. If you put your hand in a river the water you touch is already gone – changed. Its fluid and unstable like anyone in our lives. We don’t build houses on rivers, but we build commitment on other people who flow the same way. How are we not let down more by commitment to and from other people? That is what I ended up pondering over from this fortune.

What I came up with is that like the river everything flows back together. People flow around each other and adapt to each other and in the end reconnect. Each week I don’t find another reason to commit to my son or a new way to love my wife. I find a new way – a new path. Likewise, their own reasons change with me, around me and with me. Being willing to do that for each other, that is commitment.

The only part of this fortune I didn’t like was “the power to change the face of things”. I just thought it was a lot like throwing a five pepper spice warning and delivering a one cup of water spice. Changing only the face of something seems superficial so thought that was weak.

The original quote of this fortune is: “Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality. It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions. And the actions which speak louder than the words. It is making the time when there is none. Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year. Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things. It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

I found this out after writing this and it changed my perspective. The whole quote speaks to backing your words with actions and owning those actions, which I enjoyed thoroughly. Well done Abe.

Overall Cookie Experience: 9 I liked the woman who “sold” me this and the cookie was fantastic.