Know Thyself. Or, Commitment.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011 at 12:33PM 
It means "Know Thyself." But I bet you knew that even if you don't read Greek.I've attended two weddings in the past month. During the ceremony of one, I caught myself thinking about the LSAT. Not as an object of desire (because that's crazy), but as an object of commitment (because that's not crazy--it's not).
The LSAT is the first part of what is, at minimum, a four year commitment. The study that goes into the test, plus the application process, plus the three dark and evil years of law school, is not something one takes on as a lark. Ah, I see you're understanding that I'm not crazy for associating weddings with the LSAT.
Commitment is a dangerous thing and I generally encourage people to keep commitments to a minimum. This advice is not cynical, it's honest.
When you make a commitment, you are really shouldering the responsibility of trust. Being glib with your commitments is dangerous to relationships; it's even more of a threat to yourself. Not keeping a promise will not only erode others' trust in you, it will really take a toll on your own psyche. It doesn't help that the usual course for a person who's flaked out is to make up for the broken promise by making a bigger promise--often one that's even more difficult to keep. This is a really efficient way to simultaneously screw yourself and hurt the feelings of others.
So let's look to the Greeks--the grandparents of the LSAT (by virtue of Logic) and many of the West's ideas of love and truth. Let's look specifically at the temple of Apollo at Delphi.
Know thyself was inscribed in the temple's forecourt--the open space in front. Apparently, it was directed at "those whose boasts exceed what they are."
What is a commitment if not a declaration of confidence? Fulfilling a commitment means you have met the expectations you set for yourself. Leaving a commitment unfulfilled demonstrates that you don't know your own limits and that that won't stop you from talking yourself up.
If you're considering entering LSAT studies or--yikes--marriage, be sure you're more comfortable with failure than you are with broken promises and dodged commitments. If you're still in the hemming and hawing stages, now would be a good time to meditate on your limits--and own them.
Reader Comments (1)
Tonight, as I closed my LSAT prep book, I went poking around the Internet to see how other people are coping with as ponderous an undertaking as I'm certain this one will be. I'm glad I found this website, especially this entry because it sums up my fears very neatly and lays out what kind of a commitment I'm looking at. It's a brave new world. Thanks for the post!