You don’t have to do something forever for it to be meaningful. Most of us at some point have hesitated to give of ourselves because we fear that any gift is also a promise – a promise to keep on giving, for ever after.
It’s not. You can volunteer at a shelter one day, and even if you never do again, you’ll have helped. You don’t have to make a monthly pledge commitment in order to give to a charity once, and the charity is still better off.
Grabbing drinks with a co-worker after work one day isn’t a promise to be their best friend forever, or even to ever grab drinks again. For that matter, doing a job isn’t a commitment to always do that job no matter what.
When you make promises, you should keep them. But don’t guilt yourself into keeping promises you never made.
The Opportunity Machine 