Promising tension

Expectation brings tension.

When you shoot a basketball, there is a tension you feel while the ball is in the air. An expectation is born, a hope that the ball will go in.

A release of the tension occurs when it does. The moment the ball goes through the basket, there is certainty that the play is over and everyone now knows how to behave.

There is a period on the sentence.

Making a promise builds an expectation, and therefore, builds tension.

Before trust is established, both parties carry the tension built by the promise.

The person who received the promise carries the tension of their expectation.

The person who made the promise carries the tension and uncertainty of their ability to overcome the inherent unpredictability of life in order to follow through on the expectation of the person to whom they made the promise.

Follow-through provides the release.

Over time, As we continue to cycle through Making promises and following through on them, building tension and releasing it, less and less tension is built for the same situations as experience provides more and more certainty.

Making promises to ourselves is the path of personal development and integrity.

Making promises to others is the path of professionalism and business.

This is the path of trust.