Commitment: What it looks like in a teenager

My daughter is proving to be a night owl.

There are some days when she will have just turned off her lights to go to bed as I am about to turn on mine to begin my day.

So when my teenager sets her alarm for 5 am to run with a friend, you know she’s committed.

I see her commitment to the sport she loves almost on a daily basis. Today, I was reminded again.

It’s a summer Saturday, at 6:50 am.

She and her twin brother (a morning dude) planned on a long run before the heat of the day set in. She asked to be woken up before 7 am, in case her alarm didn’t go off, so I knocked on her door.

In the middle of a deep sleep, she reluctantly rose her body, eyes still closed, hair looking wonderfully wild.

“Do you want to wake up,” I whispered. 

“No, I don’t,” she replied, eyes still shut tight.

“You don’t have to run now,” I offered. I mean, I wouldn’t run feeling the way she looked.

“I do have to, …and I will,” she said as her body fell onto one side.

I left her room, knowing that she meant what she said and will do what she’s committed to. There was no need for me to linger.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, I heard the bathroom door open, the familiar sounds of water running, toilet flushing, and tooth brushing…

Her actions validate her commitment to her brother, her sport, her cross country team, her coaches, but most of all, to herself.

When you are committed to something, even when you don’t want to do it, you do it anyway.

When you are committed,

• you might have to show up against your will.
• you have to remind yourself what you are capable of, despite what you’re currently thinking and feeling.

Committed is an essential feeling that fuels your actions toward the results you want.

What are you committed to?

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