One of the greatest lessons I have learned in life in the 3 decades of my existence is never to put your total trust in a man, and 'man' in this context includes the female as well. Right from childhood, we begin to learn these lessons, not because all humans are bad at keeping a promise, but because sometimes, we are not above unforeseen circumstances or the ones that are beyond our reach.
We start experiencing these broken promises from as little children where we wer told to go put on our shoes or get something from inside with the hopes that our mum would still be outside waiting for us to accompany her to the market or wherever she intends to go, only to see that she has vanished when we come out, little experiences like that starts training us for the real adulthood, that life won't always be smooth and we are bound to disappoint a friend, loved one or stranger so we shouldn't expect any less. The best we can do is try to make sure we fulfil our words when we give them and not make the lack of dependency become a lifestyle.
My recent experience of having to break a promise is with a very good friend and client, she had reached out to me to help her get a brocade fabric lastweek from the market, since I told her about my intending trip to the market, but when I got to the store, and got the price for the fabric which relayed to her, she told me to go ahead with the payment with the promise of repaying me today, but she had to get the outfit made with fabric on Sunday, since this wasn't the first time working for her.
I promised to get it ready, but unfortunately, by the time i was done buying the sewing suplies I initially went to the market for, I didn't have enough money left to get the promised fabric, neither will I be able to sew and get it ready before Sunday, I had to break my promise to her which I didn't feel good about, but made it up today, as i got the fabrics on my way back from school, and as she promised, she paid this evening, making me feel more bad, I explained the situation to her when we met on Sunday, thankfully, she didn't feel so upset about it, and just decided to wear something else to the occasion she had planned to go to.
The reason I felt bad was because she is a loyal client, unlike the one who would have made me give up on sewing because of their promise and failure attitude, which is why any order placed now often go with a pay before service rule. Imagine making a dress for someone who promises to come pick it up in three days, which often gets me working overnight to meet up and not disappoint, and I haven't seen this same client in three months. Such experiences can be disheartening and make one question the value of keeping promises.
Despite these challenges, I've learned to appreciate clients like the one I mentioned earlier, who keep their promises, which reason why I try to maintain honest relationships with clients to build a stronger connection.
In conclusion, life has taught me that promises are not always guaranteed to be kept, and that's okay. It's better for us to be realistic about our expectations and try to maintain trust and reliability.
Image used is mine