Is it more honest to keep a promise or to tell someone that you have changed your mind? This article shines some light on this.

"One evening while having dinner with friends, I began complaining about something I had agreed to do but that I no longer thought was the best decision for me. In the name of "keeping my word," though, I felt I had to trudge through it. Suzanne looked at me and said something that honestly no one had ever told me: "Girl, you know you have the right to change your mind."

"I went silent. As the words reverberated through me, I slowly said the phrase to myself over and over, trying to embrace what it would feel like to actually accept that principle as part of my conscious living.

"Before then, I hadn’t thought of changing my mind as even possible. What about honor, commitment, staying the course?

More at:
http://www.donshewey.com/2001_zine/changing_your_mind.html

In Getting Real we learn how to Revise an earlier statement. (Getting Real Chapter 8, page 139)