Promises Are Eternal!!!

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A lot of promises have been made to me in my lifetime, and I have to say, they’ve helped shape me into the man I am today. Like every other person, I also had uncles who promised heaven and earth to me. I was promised bicycles, toys, watches… by uncles, aunts, and older cousins. But of course, they never came to pass. Even though I got older and I knew I had been lied to, I never forgot.

To date, I still haven’t forgotten, because those things helped shape my view of these people. They might have thought they were simply lying to kids, and I would forget it; however, I never did. And today, I rarely trust the things those uncles say. When I got admission into my school, one of them told me to always call on him when I’m broke and I need some financial assistance,but I never did. I just could never get the feeling that he was only going to fall my hand again. Throughout my stay in school, I only had help from a single aunt and a single uncle. The rest were voicemail.

When my siblings started having kids, I swore that I would never be like that. I want to be known as the cool and rich uncle. But most especially, I want them to know that if I make a promise, I’m going to keep it. No matter what. If my niece asks for ice cream, I won’t postpone it to next week. If they ask for toys, I won’t tell them very soon. If it’s something I can’t afford, I’ll tell them there’s not enough money for that. And if I can afford it, I’ll get it as soon as possible.

One thing I’ll keep saying is that children are not as foolish as you think they are. They learn pretty quickly. And when you keep churning out lies to them, they might be nodding, pretending to believe you. But the jokes will be on you, because they can see you exactly for who you are. And when you’re not there, they’re gonna be laughing at you, behind your back.

“Isn’t that the uncle that promised me a bicycle five years ago?” or “Isn’t that the aunt that asked me to send my account number three years ago?” We’ve all been there, so we know what I’m saying.

So, have I broken any promise? Well, I try my best not to make promises, because I know how fragile such things can be. And when I do, I try to keep up my end, unless circumstances stop me from doing that. That’s why it’s hard for me to tell someone “I’ll do this for you tomorrow”, instead, I’ll say “We’ll see how tomorrow goes”.

I take promises seriously on my end, and I always try to get them done. However, I don’t really hold other people’s promises like that. I treat it just like any other thing, a string of words. That way, if they end up breaking their word, I won’t be hurt or disappointed. But it will also be helpful in telling me the kind of person they are.

Have I broken my word before? As I said, I rarely make promises, so I rarely break them. The last one I can remember was when I was coming back to Lagos. At the airport, my nephew had called me with his mom’s phone to wish me a safe trip. Before I cut the call, he reminded me of a watch I had promised him. It was the moment he mentioned it that I remembered. That promise had been made the previous year, during his birthday. He had asked me to buy him a watch when I was returning to Lagos. He didn’t want me to buy and waybill it, he wanted me to buy it and bring it home with me.

I promised to get it, but at the time, I was relaxed because I was still in school and had no plans of coming home. But over time, I totally forgot. And it was at the airport that he reminded me. I tried buying it at the airport, but it was so expensive I just couldn’t go through with it. I even went outside the airport, but most of what I saw were fast food, and earphone sellers. Yeah, Sam Mbakwe Airport can be like that.

So, I decided to buy the watch when I got to Lagos. That didn’t work out either though, because I took an Uber straight home. I stopped over at a supermarket to buy some stuff, but I didn’t find any watches. And I didn’t just want to stop at every boutique I saw, hoping to find a watch. In the end, I didn’t buy the watch. I told my nephew that I didn’t get it, but I also promised to get it within the week. Before I went to visit, I made sure that I bought it. As a matter of fact, it was the watch that made me delay my visit because I didn’t have it.

If I had gotten it in Owerri, I could have gone visiting the next day or the day after. Well, that was my mess-up, and I handled it. One thing I’ve tried to do as a man is to always tell myself the truth. I’m not here to impress anyone. If I don’t have money for something, I’ll tell them that I don’t have it. Nobody will beat me. I’m not going to tell you that I have it, then go ahead to promise you heaven and earth, knowing that I can’t afford it. I’m not going to be that kind of uncle.

And then, has anyone ever broken a promise made to me? Plenty of times! I don’t even want to get into it because this post is already getting too long. All I’ll say is that I’ve learned to steel myself against the heartbreak that comes with broken promises. I don’t want to be the kind of person who brings such pain, so I only make promises that I’m sure I can keep. Whether to an adult or a child.

Our promises will always hold us to ransom.

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_{Thank you for reading. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below, I would love to know what you’re thinking. Till we meet in the next post.}

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_{This post is inspired by the first topic of this week which is A Broken Promise. Feel free to try it out.}

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_{N.B: All images used in this post are mine. The thumbnail was designed using Canva.}

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