Shattered; The Impact of Broken Promises

Pexel

Promises are the foundation of our relationships - fragile threads that can be easily broken, but can also be strengthened with care and dedication.

A promise is a commitment or an assurance that is made to do something or refrain from doing it. This is a declaration made by someone to do something or live up to a particular point of action.

3 Reasons why people break promises.

• People break promises are due to fear of conflict.

• They want to avoid difficult situations or conversations so they make promises they can't keep.

• People break promises because they're not honest about their intentions from the start and so sometimes they get overwhelmed and lose track of their commitments.

Yes I have witnessed firsthand someone who broke their promise to me. After high school my friend and I went our separate way since we going to separate universities. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for her she got admission into the university before I did and before we parted completely, we made a promise to stay in touch so that our friendship will never die.

Since I wasn't in school yet, I kept the tempo and was calling, keeping up with events that is happening in our lives and she tried as well nonetheless. But months went by and the calling reduced, which I attributed to school stress. But then the reply to texts became less frequent the calls stopped from her end and even when I try to still call as often as I could, it became as do I was a burden, disturbing.

Pixabay

And then she ghosted me for a year-and-a-half till I heard she was back in town and decided to pay her a visit. But the visit showed just how much she'd changed and even when I brought the whole promise up, it was as though it meant nothing to her. So I left, angry, hurt and betrayed and most of all sad that I just lost someone who I called my best friend. The betrayal from her made me vow never to have a best friend again. I was heartbroken.

When my former best friend broke our friendship promise ,I wanted to do all sorts of things; scream, lash out, whatever, because I felt maybe it'll fix things. But growing up, in my opinion, I feel like unless there is a special condition to which a promise was broken, a broken promise is a way of that person showing that he or she doesn't value that promise as much as you did.

Pixabay

So I think it's best to just save yourself the stress and let it go. Whoever values your the promise they made to you, will not break it. I didn't bother confronting my friend on how she has been treating the promise we made to each other. I instead tried to communicate, understand the problem only to discover unfortunately that the promise did not mean that much to her.

So I made the tough decision there and then that as difficult as these was, I had to let her go. I had to let it go and save myself the stress.

I don't believe that promises are meant to be broken. These are commitments that were made and they should be taken seriously because breaking a promise can pose negative consequences for both the person who makes the promise and the person to whom the promise was being made. While there may be valid reasons why breaking promises may be the best option, such as promises that can cause harm to oneself or others, or a promise made under duress.

In this case, it is important to consider the consequences of breaking the promise against keeping it. But it should still be done with careful consideration and respect for the people involved. Furthermore a pattern of broken promises will only bring lasting negative effects on one's reputation and ability to build healthy relationships. So keeping promises is an important part of building and maintaining trust.

First, it's important to acknowledge the damage done to the promise that was broken and then apologize sincerely. And this should be done in such a way that takes responsibility for the mistake and doesn't try to deflect or shift blame. It is also important to explain what happened and why the promise was broken, so that the other person understands the situation.

Then, it's time to take action to build that trust back. Making and keeping new promises can help to rebuild trust over time, but this process takes patience and consistency and so there's no need to rush things. Finally, it's important to be transparent and open about future promises, so that trust can continue to be rebuilt.

Promises are not always easy to keep, but they are always worth the effort. The bonds we create through our promises are what make life worth living, and with a little effort, we can build a world full of trust and connection.

I invite @chilaw @adunni and @disconnect

Cc,
@sahmie