What's The Real Meaning Of A Promise?

A verbal commitment that most of us do every single day of our lives. May be a promise to attend a party, a promise to keep a friend's secret, or a promise to love faithfully. But what does a PROMISE really mean?

For me it's a ground for feeling hopeful, expecting to receive something good at the end of a rocky road. It's like telling a child in advance what's he's going to get if he behaves.

I see, meet and interact with people who make verbal commitments and yet neglect to keep it. Is this what a PROMISE means today? It seems like a fashion trend that quickly and vastly overtake a person's mind, without overlooking at its end result, people are forgetting what a promise really means.

Are promises meant to be broken? One shouldn't really promise if one cannot or will not fulfill it right from the very start, right? Or am I wrong? Maybe there are just promises that are meant to be broken after all! But what happens after the heartbreak, the tears, sleepless nights and the endless pain? I wouldn't count on another promise to make things right again! I'd rather stand up and walk through it alone, than to cling on another empty promise...