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I Do
Rolando P. Nagtalon Jr.
Class of 2002, Polytechnic University of the Philippines
B. S. Industrial Engineering
“I do.” This line is always being said in wedding vows which are very sacred and must not be violated. This line
is a sign of commitment. Some people have this characteristic that when they start something and one thing
goes wrong; they tend to waver and start losing the enthusiasm of doing that something and lead to
procrastination. I won’t be writing about commitment and success in life, this is about a love story that
somehow, happened to touch my heart. I would like to share to you a movie and book that I have watched and
read that I think is about commitment.
The Notebook is a very popular book written by the famous Nicholas Sparks and this same book was converted
into a movie in 2004. This is a story of two people who fell in love with each other in one summer vacation.
These two, Noah and Allie, fell in love when they were teenagers and were separated by Allie’s parents because
of Noah’s stand in the society. Years have passed and they’ve already had their own life; Allie is about to get
married and Noah is living his life alone finishing the renovation of his house. Before Allie’s wedding, she went
back to their house in South Carolina to visit Noah. She saw Noah there and began to fall for him again. Noah
did the same. To make the long story short, they fell in love with each other and got married. They’ve had
children and raised them well. But the thing is, Allie was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. Since Noah and
Allie made a commitment to each other, Noah didn’t mind that. He committed to go to the hospital everyday,
where Allie was confined, to read her a story about two lovers who fell in love with each other in the summer
of 1940. He never failed to do that, why, because he made a commitment. He loved Allie so much and will give
her all his time just for her not forget their own love story.
Committing to something is not easy. It is something that you work for and work out. Love and time are
inseparable because they always equal to commitment. When you commit yourself to someone, or maybe just
to something let’s just say, you will need to exert effort, devote so much attention, and fall in love with it. If not,
you will lose everything that drives you to do it, to make it, to finish it, and to win it. The consequences are like
in love and marriage.
It’s like marrying the work you commit yourself into. You need to make sacrifices. You need to work hard for it.
If something goes wrong, you need to fix it right away.
Commitment is something that you engaged to. You put your words on it; give your heart and time. You cannot
commit yourself to something and leave it undone. It’s like a love story; the real and everlasting love story. You
will do whatever you can to make it work and last.
So, in the end, before you commit to something, make sure that you can handle its consequences. Committing
to something is really hard to do but it’s worth it.
Question for discussion:
1. Do you find it hard to commit on something?
2. Aside from marriage and love story, to what else can you compare commitment?
3. What can you say about Allie and Noah’s love story?
4. Have you ever committed to something? Why?
5. What are the sacrifices you’ve done to finish what you’ve started?