Failure

Why does "committing to do something and then not doing it" feel so much more like failing than "not committing to do something and then still not doing it"? Either way, the thing doesn't get done.

I don't think this is wholly irrational. Sometimes it's because other people are counting on me because I made a commitment. Sometimes the thing I've promised to do, someone else would have done if I hadn't made the commitment. Sometimes it's not, but I've still raised hopes and then disappointed them.

I guess that's true even if the only hopes I've raised are my own.