21 Jan Commitment: The Road Less Travelled
I am a bit lonely on the road in Iowa—-it seems like there are so many miles between here and home.
As I was lost (again) today, driving to a remote part of Davenport, I laughed when I passed a Highway 280 sign…Des Moines to the left…Chicago to the right. A fork in the road. For a fleeting moment I almost veered toward Chicago.
And it made me wonder…how committed am I to being here? Or should I be committed? (Or at least seek counseling?)
Define commit.
The word hit me hard. Commit. As a Clinton Iowa Caucus Fellow I spend hours every day spinning and circling around my district urging fellow democrats to sign a “Commit to Hillary” card. These “commit cards” face me every morning, when I glance down at the passenger seat of my rental car. They are my good-morning wake-up calls greeting me as I defrost the car.
Our team needs to collect a certain percentage of cards in every district before the February 1st caucus. And this is just one district in one state—multiply that by 50 (and then by however many districts there are.) Talk about commitment! I am simply in awe of the mechanics and the man power needed to run for President! It is indeed a well-oiled machine.
You might think people would just sign the card so I stop ringing their doorbell—more than once. Some voters have told me they are 99% sure they will caucus for Hillary Clinton—but they are reluctant to “commit”—to be all in—100% accountable, by signing a card. Commitment means 110-percent. (Trust me, by the time I leave their living room most have “committed”—I am persistent and persuasive.)
But the point is—what are we truly committed to? Yes, our families and our children—but what else? Is it our marriages or relationships? Are we all in—-would we sign a “commit” card? Is it our health? Is it our work? Is it our country? If there was a draft enforced would you move to Canada? Do we take the word “commit” seriously enough? Or do we “half-ass” stuff at this point in our lives?
How many organizations or causes do we float in and out of? How many gym memberships or diets? I have barely worn spinning shoes next to my barely worn racquet ball racket…if anyone is interested I will happily send them to you (I really do mean barely worn).
I realize in this lonely subzero week in Iowa I am in awe of commitment—and the value of accountability.
So I followed the sign toward Des Moines…trust me, temptation almost took me to Chicago. But responsibility pulled me back.
I have signed my own “commit card”—- and I must admit being “all-in” feels even better than sleeping in my own bed.
I want to thank all of my friends and blog followers who send daily words of support—it helps keep me focused. We are working hard here not to “Feel the Bern”… to get my fellow Iowans to commit to helping Hillary clinch the caucus.
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