Is Commitment Something We Can Reasonably Be So Scared Of?

What about never committing to anything? Welcome to life on the fence.

Photo by Gui Avelar

Being on the fence is only natural. We are all on the fence about something at some point. The problem isn’t sitting on the fence either — however uncomfortable, doubt is a sign that wisdom may be around the corner after all — but living on the fence is simply not possible.

I just read Seth Godin using the literal meaning of ‘sitting on the fence’ to argue its impracticality. It works. Sitting on the fence might be okay for that last chat before parting ways or deciding to stay for dinner, but you wouldn’t even consider having more than one drink there. Soon, it is about in or out. The most trivial decisions are still decisions. Sometimes, we make our best decisions after considering them literally for the binary conclusions they require: yes or no, in or out.

Paralysis by analysis is real. When standing before a momentous decision, it is only normal to want to assess the situation as well as we can. It is simply not always possible. There are depths we simply cannot descend to before we must make the decision. Decisions aren’t difficult only because of the research they might necessitate but because we often need to make them without knowing if they are correct. Even more so…