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No Commitment


I saw a commercial this am for local gym. Ironically, I was working out at another gym in town when the ad came on. Anyway, the commercial espoused all the great features of their gym (weights, cardio, free candy – you know, the normal stuff) as well as some membership specials they are running for a “limited time only,” which in gym speak, means “whenever you get around to dragging your lazy butt in here, we will be waiting with our ‘limited time’ offer.” They mentioned low monthly fees, $0 enrollment and then, as big bold letters came across the screen, “NO COMMITMENT,” the narrator excitedly reports that you may cancel at any time.

What a horrible way to encourage someone to pursue a lifetime of fitness! Right from the beginning, this gym is giving people an out, an excuse to give up. No commitment! It’s an awful message to anyone who is trying to take the right steps to better themselves. It’s one thing if we are talking about a magazine subscription, a membership to a local museum or a movie streaming service. Those are all things that you may decide are not important or not necessary. Maybe you only need them for a season in your life. But your health? That’s not something you can’t “fix” in just a few months, not needing a whole year of a gym membership to accomplish.

Now, you may find a slightly better gym in four months and be “stuck” at your current gym for the remainder of the year, but if you are exercising consistently and making a difference in your physical and emotional health, does it really matter if the evil gym that made you sign up for a year is three minutes out of the way compared to the new gym you found? No, where you exercise is far less important than that you exercise.

Along with health and fitness, marriage, career, education, parenting: these are all lifelong journeys requiring tremendous commitment and dedication. Embarking on any venture into even a single one of these areas with a “no commitment” attitude is recipe for failure and disappointment. You can’t just “date” improvement. You must commit.

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