Growing up, I’ve came with the idea that we are all destined to meet the one. The idea of making promises to find one another lifetime after lifetime just sounded so romantic to me!
Even if I didn’t believe in reincarnation, that thought always made me melt and daydream about this great love that I would at some point meet. That is… until last week, when it suddenly hit me: Who was I when I made that promise? Who were they? Does it still make sense to even hold on to that binding commitment that we have made to each other – allegedly – lifetimes ago?
For me, a promise into the future meant security. Certainty. It meant being safe and relaxing into the known. I was protected! And isn’t that exactly what we are looking for when we enter into contracts? However, where once I saw safety, I now saw a limiting constriction.
Who are we when we are making those promises? What are we creating when we are placing upon ourselves binding obligations to another?
Contracts place us in so many situations: marriage, jobs, transactions. If we are constantly evolving and changing, how do we go about it without being limited by the promises of our past self?
How do we transcend into the future to make commitments that are equally contributive to all parties involved throughout all the times?
Is that even possible?
I don’t know.
What I do know is: I am being invited. To look at contracts and promises in a different light. To release certainty and seek a balance between freedom, space for mistakes or simply changing my mind. To entertain the idea that I should only commit to that which will create greater. Not only for me, but for everyone. To create bonds that will propel me to soar and thrive. To commit under promises that will not be a bondage, a source of control, but a space of respect and honoring of what we can create together: as a couple, business partners or commercial allies.
And by doing all that; maybe, just maybe… all the promises we make to one another will always lead us to a greater tomorrow.
Paula Camila Pinto 