...or not to shave

You don't grow a beard all at once. It takes time.
For some, it might be a long-term commitment to a single decision they made; it's been that way for me in the past, where I've had a beginning and end date and carefully monitored the progress all along.
But more common for me are the beards that grow not out of one decision to purposefully cultivate my facial hair, but out of initial laziness, and a daily lack of commitment to a clean shaved look. This kind usually never spawns a firm commitment or decision. Each day a question mark surfaces in the mirror - to shave or not to shave? The beard survives as long as my will to shave wanes.
You may argue that the decision to clean up neck and cheeks every few days when things get too scruffy constitutes commitment, but I experience it more as a bare minimum effort to remain presentable. Even as the razor hums over my exposed neck, chin tilted high, the option to continue up along the jaw-line and chin often presents itself, but is typically overruled by apathy and procrastination. No, not today, I tell myself, just let it be.
One day, my whim will blow the other way and the beard will be the victim. But it's no loss. Something so carelessly acquired is as carelessly destroyed. Though the shave is a much more abrupt change to the mutable landscape of my face, it is no more deliberate or well-reasoned. Sometimes "because I felt like it" really is the only reason a person has to give. The weeks of not shaving are not the accomplishment of dedication or work - but almost the exact opposite.
The beard grows under either circumstance. If I stop shaving, the end result will eventually be the same whether I chose to be bearded or took a shaving vacation. Sometimes you make a decision, and sometimes decisions make themselves if you stall on them long enough. Unlike my beard, you can't always count on the end result being the same.