Another lesson from yoga – sort of. For about 9 months, I’ve been practicing yoga almost daily at a studio in Simsbury, CT. There are a number of different options for purchasing classes, either individually or in blocks of classes or time. Since I’ve begun, I’ve been purchasing one month at a time for a number of reasons. Another option is pay by the month but to have the funds automatically deducted from your banking account. The benefit of this is that the price/month is much lower than buying individual months, but it requires a 6-month commitment. Today, my month was up and I told the owner, Richard that I wanted to switch to the autopay for 6 months. His reaction: “Oh my gosh, you’re committing!” I just smiled and said, “I thought you would have known by now that I’m committed.”
A couple of hours later, I was talking to a former exercise instructor who told me that a high percentage of the people who used to sign up for one year memberships at her club would never show up.
So where’s the commitment? Is it in the signature on the contract, or in the credit card? No, it’s in the person. It’s in the person who shows up everyday at the yoga studio to practice or at the gym to workout. Not in the credit card payment that goes through and not in the unused gym membership. As always, actions speak louder than words–and ink. And what makes me feel good about my choice at the yoga studio is that even though Richard would have financially benefited more from me continuing to pay by the month, he was more excited that I chose the 6-month commitment. This reaction speaks very loudly to me that he’s committed too. : )
Don't you think that's the society we live in now? People are afraid to commit to anything. We want the easy way out if we don't like it or if it turns out not to be what we thought it would be. I applaud you for commitment! :) Now just make sure you show up. hahaha
ReplyDeleteI agree Kathy and it takes work to reach a goal. I love my yoga practice and I'm always trying to move it forward a little bit at a time. Richard is very committed to learning and offering us more information and suggestions as well which is fortunate for us!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Linda. Committment ~ such a scary word for so many of us, even me! What if I make the wrong choice and I'm committed! UGH! Good job girl on the yoga. I did some research and found that the nearest yoga in my area is 40 minutes away! UGH! Am I that committed? Nope! I want to MOVE and have yoga nearby! But if I truly love it I'm committed. I once signed up for a cooking class that was 6 weeks long and I had to drive 4 hours round trip. That's committment!
ReplyDeleteKristi, wow, you must have really wanted to take the cooking class to be willing to drive the distance. I guess when we are committed, we'll do what it takes. When I think about it, there are lots of things that I'm committed to, I just don't think of them as commitments. We've definitely made a commitment with school!!
ReplyDeleteIt does actually take me about 35-40 minutes to get to yoga class. Before I started going, I didn't think I would ever make that trip everyday. But I do now. It doesn't really feel like 40 minutes and I try to make use of the time. But yes, I'd love to be closer too and I'm looking into that...