Commitment. That's a strong word isn't it? Yes it is. Commitment is about your honour, your integrity. Putting your life on the line to see an issue through.
The other day I was travelling to Ibadan, Nigeria from Lokoja a town in central Nigeria. A journey of 6-7 hours on a good day. We had dropped off some passengers in a city just 2hrs from Ibadan and picked up some new ones to complete the journey. No sooner had we picked the two new passengers than we heard a snapping sound, followed by a scrapping sound that persisted as the vehicle continued on motion. The driver reckoned something had gone wrong with the back spring of the car. Nothing felt particularly wrong with the car to me, except for the scrapping noise of metal against the car frame.
The driver pulled over, assessed the situation and determined it was safe to drive on till we got to a mechanic workshop where it could be checked properly. He got in and drove on much more slowly. But as the sound persisted, passengers began to agitate to get off. Not the least, the two new addons. In fact they insisted they wanted to get off heatedly and presently were allowed to alight.
The rest of us were willing to persevere till at least we got a full diagnosis at the next mechanic workshop. I for one was contemplating dropping off at the next town where my grandmother lived if I felt the car wouldn't get me to my destination.
So were we just more risk averse than those other two passengers or were we plain silly to have continued such a journey on the highway with a faulty vehicle?
I'll tell you what, we were just committed. Lets look at the indicators.
1. We had paid our fares before we took off. If we got off now, we would most probably have to sort ourselves out.Those two hadn't paid as yet.
2. Most of us had heavy baggage. They had just a hand bag.
3. We had formed a kind of camaraderie having travelled together for over 5 hours experiencing the intrigues of the road together. They hadn't.
4. We had come a long way (5 hours). They were just starting out.
So yeah commitment was the difference. As silly and dangerous as it must have seemed, commitment saw us through and got us to our destination. Together we weathered the storm. As we drove on my thoughts kept flashing back to those two who had dropped off along a bushy, lonely highway. 'Did they get another lift quickly?', 'were they beaten by the rain that fell shortly after?', 'did they get home safe?'. Well, I'll never know. Just like they'll never know how we fared either.
It's always quite easy to jump off the boat. But count the cost. There'll always be 'what-ifs' both sides of the coin. Weight your commitment before you throw it all up in the air. Just a little patience might crown your commitment with results.
Selah
Image credits: jasaero.com
