Commitment

A mentor of mine recently brought up a point about commitment. The thought has been stewing in my mind for several days and one thought was "Isn't making a commitment that you don't actually keep, dishonest? Is there much difference between a lie and an un-kept promise?" It seems to be the trend in my realms of organizations, that many people will commit to attending an activity, or say that will help out in some way, but they ultimately do not show up and rarely even give an excuse as to their absence. I think that many times people rely on the forgiving nature of those around them. "Better to ask for forgiveness than permission." It is almost better to not to commit in the first place, because people will begin to not trust your word, as much as if you had lied to them. Once you make a commitment: to be somewhere on time, bring something to contribute to an activity, do it. If you know you can't, or don't want to, don't say you will.