Broken Promises

"Broken Promises" is also a: user

created by Duchess

(idea) by Duchess (5.1 y) (print) ? (I like it!) 1 C! Fri Sep 29 2000 at 12:49:47

There's nothing that irritates me more than a broken promise. I may get softlinks directing me to Earn Your Bullshit for this, but I think it says something legit. When someone says they are going to do something, they've spoken a promise to follow through on that action. It's understandable that sometimes things happen, legitimate excuses for not doing something that had been promised. However, when it becomes a petty cycle, riddled with lame and recurring excuses- things that could have been helped, when the person becomes lazy or slack, when they've specifically and continually acknowledged a very important event and promised to follow through on it, but don't, it becomes quite irritating.

Whenever I say I'm going to do something, I'll go to every end to do so, whether it be go without sleep, go without food, miss out on something I wanted to do, inconvienence myself, or break a limb. Break a limb?! you say. Why, yes. This doesn't just apply to doing things that benefit other people. Back when I used to ride and show horses regularly, my trainer would ask me if I wanted to try something new (whether it be a course of 4' fences, or jumping bareback on a longe). If I accepted her challenge, I WOULD ride it, even if it meant messing up, falling off, whatever. For me, it was a learning experience, a promise to myself.

Breaking promises to yourself or others is a sad, disappointing, and frustrating thing. It happens every once and again, and people will overlook it. But even worse than disappointing someone, breaking promises breaks others' faith in you. When someone continually promises to do things, then bails at the last minute by some lame excuse or fault of their own that could have been prevented, it becomes an irritating and esteem-breaking cycle. People no longer trust that person with important, or even unimportant tasks/secrets/whatever the case may be. Learn from mistakes, when you promise a friend (for example) that you'll study with them for a class you have together, and then realize at the last minute that you have a paper to write for another class, sure- tell them that you can't do it. It's the lesser of two evils for you. BUT, learn from this to plan ahead and check your schedule before you inconvienence someone again. My example isn't a huge one, but some things are dire- promises that people depend on. You wouldn't want to leave a friend/family member empty-handed.

The moral of this story: Don't make promises you can't keep, think about things before you give your word to do something, and always follow through to the best of your ability.

(idea) by Castalia (1.2 wk) (print) ? (I like it!) Mon Apr 16 2001 at 0:22:47

Duchess is right, don't make promises you can't keep. So I write this to the person who I THOUGHT understood:

You promised to always be there, you lied.
You promised to never ignore me, you lied.
You promised no matter what happens you'd be by my side, you lied.
You promised to always care, you lied.
You promised we'd always be friends, you lied.
You promised you'd never hurt me again, you LIED.

Broken promises hurt, but it's the people who make them that hurt us the most.

printable version
chaos

Graveyard of Dreams	empty promise	Love	Monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey, William Shatner
my body has taken over my thinking	Break Me Shake Me	Vous et Nul Autre	Hello
Kill time before it kills you	The Squall	How to improve your chances of having sex	good grammar
The Everything People Registry : United States : Georgia

Y'know, if you log in, you can write something here, or contact authors directly on the site. Create a New User if you don't already have an account.

Login
Password

remember me
password reminder
register

Everything2 Help

Look at this mess the Death Borg made!
How Prom nearly killed me
Trying to explain Everything to your non-Everythingite friends
Drywall
Kahlil Gibran
Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest
Being with an older woman
I don't rewrite my poetry
Northern Ireland
The demon was just under three feet tall
Vaclav Havel's address to the US Congress, 21 February 1990
OBD-II
When the Sun Rises
Cotton Club

Glowing Fish
Tualatin River	(place)
The Jacket
Words of Advice	(idea)
keepinitreal
Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?	(idea)
John_Fox
Good Intentions Gone Wrong	(person)
Cuckowski
Slavonic Princess	(poetry)
Heitah
Posthumous Oscar	(thing)
ignis_glaciesque
University of South Florida	(place)
ignis_glaciesque
Flogstaskriket	(idea)
liveforever
Caesar's last breath	(idea)
dagnyswaggart
she wants to believe	(personal)
antigravpussy
he doesn't know, but her eyes widen too far	(thing)
dagnyswaggart
Wild tides guard her secrets	(poetry)
Lord Brawl
Caesar's last breath	(poetry)
locke baron
Forgotten things in space	(fiction)
sitaraika
Colours	(idea)

E2 is a by-product of the existence of The Everything Development Company