You know how bad I feel when people postpone things they promise to do without any reason or prior information, letting me in blurred expectation. You have seen how unpleasant it is to reach out for them only to get another derided promise.

It?s unfortunate, my dear kids, that more and more people fail to weigh the importance of a promise, a given word. It is yet vital for one?s own integrity and self-respect besides one?s responsibility towards others to uphold one?s promise, that is why I have always taught you to prefer the formula ?I?ll try my best? in lieu of ?I promise? or ?I assure you?; it makes a whole difference.

When one declares one will do something, one has to stick to one?s word because healthy human interrelationships are based on trust. Civilisation itself is based on trust.

As I told you before, owing to the uncertainty of our life, which is permanently threatened by the certainty of death, we all crave for things certain and solid. A given word is one of those values, which compensate our dearth of certainty.

Promises are so important that they find a privileged place in our holy books, which thrive in promises of a fulfilled life for those who would believe.

God?s promises are cherished by those who understand and uphold them, the contrary is also true, unfortunately. That is why people either trust or distrust religion. Fortunately enough, when a Mother Teresa, a Gandhi or a Martin Luther King rises up among the many other anonymous peace-makers and believers, to uphold God?s promises, we feel his presence and trust him.

As a matter of fact, to enhance our promise, we often make them in presence of God. Hence we exchange solemn vows of fidelity, patience and love when we get religiously married, yet many a wedding ends up in miserable lives underpinned by lack of mutual trust and understanding, which often leads to divorce and separation. This shows how low we esteem our promises.

Similarly my dear kids, you will notice how serious and trustworthy politicians look when they solemnly swear to serve the nation to the best of their capacity, honestly and with integrity when they take office. Yet, many of them fail their words pitifully. Consequently, some people consider politics as a dirty game and pay no interest to this noble art, which frames our society and daily lives.

To ensure credibility in justice courts where truth is vital for fair trials, people are invited to swear to be genuine in their declarations upon the holy book of their choice. We can only hope they always do so.

A given word is a sacred word, yet you may face situations, which prevent you from upholding your promise. It?s not the end of the world as in ancient Japan where honour was of such an importance that people who failed their word committed suicide known as ?harakiri?.

Life is too important and even more sacred for that. However, you should have the decency to explain yourself to those to whom you have given your word.

Please do not keep them in empty expectation, it hurts more than you think and both ways! People will lose trust in you, putting your reputation at stake. You know how well words go fast in our hi-tech world.

In life, you should never miss an opportunity to be trustworthy, therefore do hold your promises. Yet use them thoughtfully because they are not meant to be discarded abusively.