Promises

Finally, exams are over. I am as free as a bird...for now. Until I begin my internship somewhere in November. My last resort would be Shah Alam, which is inconvenient in terms of transport and accommodation. Sigh.

I am interested in one thing which every human being will definitely get themselves entangled into no matter what. Promises. You see, typically people make promises for two things. Firstly, to gain trust from someone else and secondly, to give assurance to someone so that they will trust you, which brings back to the first reason. Ah the redundancy. Anyway, you all know that people break their promises all the time, and when a promise is broken, the trust is also broken into half. Some people thus think that why do we even need to make a promise, which will end up being broken? Broken promises leads to broken trust, and for some cases, broken heart.

Let me give you a scenario of which promises are important, even if it is broken. A single father works as a construction worker. Long working hours and low pay. He single-handedly raised his only son, who meant the world to him. His son, a typical child growing up in a school surrounded by friends who have normal family that are able to give them the things they want. Feeling envious, he wished he could have that too. There is only one thing though, that this son wants all this while. A birthday celebration with his father. **okay I know I am talking about birthday celebration because my birthday just passed a few days ago but still, it can be part of the scenario in our lives** His father promised him a meal at McDonald's and a birthday cake, and most importantly, having his father by his side on his birthday. However, his father often could not make it because of his irregular working hours. He was torn apart by dilemma of choosing to fulfill his promise to his son or to earn more money for the day so that he could buy his son a better present for making up the broken promises. You know construction workers are paid by day and if they do not work on that day, then it is too bad. The father often celebrated belated birthdays with a new toy and a birthday cake for the son. But the most important thing, which is the celebration with the father himself is not there.

Most people would say that if the father could not fulfill his promise to celebrate his birthday with his son, then why even making the promise at the first place? The promise made by the father shows how much he loved his son to want to try his best to give him whatever he wants. The son may be upset every year, but when he saw how much his father made up by buying toys and birthday cake (although belated), he would understand that his father could not afford to lose his job, because he was the only breadwinner of the family. That job was the only source of income for the family. As the son grew up, he would understand that the promise made by his father was to show his intentions to give him what he wants on his birthday. Disappointment was there, but the love of the father to his son was there as well.

I guess most of us here can see the picture now. A promise is not just to gain trust.On the outside, it is to gain trust and to give someone a sense of security. But what makes a promise valuable is the intention carried within the promise. The intention for someone to take the risk of disappointing the other half by making a promise so that he could give someone the things desired. Marriage is the same thing. It is an oath, which too is a form of promise. We all very well know that marriage do not necessarily means happy ending, but when both people get married, that means they are willing to take risk of getting a divorce and suffering from a rocky marriage. They are willing to do so because they want to show to each other that they want to be with each other so much that they will risk all the unwanted circumstances in a marriage. That is why there is a saying which says that marriage is not just a piece of certificate. No. It is a promise made by each other.

Let us now imagine a world without promises. Then the people around us will not know what we really want and how much do we really care for them. In layman's terms, we call it "half-cooked". You want to buy a meal for someone but you do not promise that person. How would that other person take it as? He will not be sure whether you really want to buy a meal for that person. As a result, he will not set a confirmed appointment and he will then attend something else other than a meal with you. Because you never promised him. And if there is no promise, there is no assurance as well.

The reason why people created contracts and all is because people are so insecure about each other that they need a definite, concrete promise, black and white in the form of law and contract so that they can secure whatever they want. But none of these would have happened if people are truly sincere with each other at the first place. It all comes back to sincerity, of why people make promises.

I guess I have ranted enough already. Sloth time. Ah the holiday.