V is for . . . Vows

Image courtesy: Raj Manchekar

Sweetie pies, welcome back to your lessons.

V is for Vinegar in your book, La Niña. Ah, the very mention of the word causes your face to scrunch up. El Niño is no different. I can still recall the look on his face when I dipped a tip of my finger in vinegar and placed it on his tongue.

You asked me once, La Niña, why I needed to stock vinegar in our kitchen at all. You see, my girl, vinegar, though sour of taste, is an excellent preservative with many uses in cooking and even baking.

When you think about it, you'll realise that vinegar is not too far removed from my V word today, Vows. A vow is a solemn promise that you make, committing yourself to some action. Keeping a vow is very tough and may sometimes leave a sour taste in your mind, but a vow lived up to is what preserves marriages, relationships, friendships and workplace harmony.

Most people make vows and promises, without a second thought. They rarely think about the implications of what they have vowed, whether they will be able to fulfill them, whether they are willing to do what it takes to fulfill them.

My beloveds, think twice, think things through, before making a promise. Think about the consequences of not being able to keep your promises.

If the promises that you make are believed, it is because you are trusted. The promise itself has nothing to do with it. It gains value from your character, not from the words you use. Whenever you make a promise to someone, be so honourable as to treat the promise as it were a debt you owed that person.

Whether the vow was made verbally and casually or whether you signed on the dotted line in the presence of witnesses is irrelevant. Nor does it matter if a suitably well-paid lawyer is able to bail you out or not. What matters is that your failure to deliver the goods marks you as a person that does not deserve to be trusted.


Make sure you are calm and cool-headed when you make a vow. The time when you are upset or angry or even very happy is not the time to make a promise.


Above all, don't be tempted to wriggle out of a promise you made because there is no one to hold you to it. There is One, whose promises are never broken, who watches everything. 

My wish for you is that you may be slow to make a promise, yet quick in keeping it. And that you may be no less respectful of the vows you make to yourself.

That's all for today. See you tomorrow.