the.com/commitment
The bridge between what you swore drunk and what you do hungover.
means A binding pledge or promise to a person, cause, or course of action, along with the dedication required to follow through on it.
from From Latin 'committere,' to bring together or entrust — built from 'com-' (together) and 'mittere' (to send, to put). The same 'mittere' fathered a whole dynasty of English words: 'mission,' 'transmit,' 'permit.' Originally 'commit' meant simply to hand something over for safekeeping, and 'commitment' could mean being committed to prison — sent away into custody. The sense of a self-imposed bond, a promise you entrust to your own future self, grew naturally from there: in both cases, something is sent forward and cannot easily be called back.
- word root
- From Latin committere, to bring together or entrust
- sunk cost
- Brains escalate commitment to justify past losses
- marriage odds
- Roughly half of vows quietly become negotiations
- climbers
- Free soloists commit where retreat is no longer possible
- contracts
- Handshakes once held more weight than signed paper
marriage vows — approximately 2.2 million marriages annually in the us alone, formalized through spoken or written pledges
military enlistment — 8-year service obligation for us armed forces, legally binding contract with penalties for breach
mortgage — 30-year debt obligation averaging $400,000+ in the us, secured against property with foreclosure consequences
olympic athlete training — typically 10,000+ hours of training before competing, demonstrated by gymnasts like simone biles starting at age 6