Personal Responsibility is a hot topic these days. It does not matter what side of the political fence you are on, everyone wants other people to be more accountable to themselves. By very definition, this is the wrong way to look it. The easiest faults to see in others are gaps in integrity. The truth is that you can only change yourself, no matter how hard you try to change others.
So, why should you want to be more personally responsible? I have two reasons why I want to take more responsibility in my life.
- My irresponsibility will eventually become someone else’s responsibility. The government and current welfare system is a great example of this fact. There are people out there that really need some short-term help to get on their feet. There are others that require a lifetime of help due to illness, injury, or another long-term issue. However, there are many people out there that just enjoy sitting at home without a job taking advantage of a system that can not possibly police itself. When someone fails to pull their own weight, someone else has to pay the way for them. I do not want for my responsibilities to fall onto someone else.
- I know that we are all designed for greatness. Every single one us are made to do great things. It is why we were created, why we are drawn to movies about super heroes, why we read books where the underdog wins over the better equipped. We want to be someone’s hero. We ARE designed to be better than we can imagine.
“Everybody is a genius. But, if you judge a fish by his ability climb a tree, it’ll spend its whole life believing it is stupid.”
– Albert Einstein
Personal Responsibility begins with finding the right answers. The right answers can not be found without first asking the right questions. In my opinion there are is only one good question: HOW (or what) can I (or other personal pronoun) ACTION VERB to IMPROVE (whatever your subject matter is)? If you ask questions that start with why, when or who it zaps your ability to do what needs to be done.
It is much easier to wonder when someone else will do something to help your situation than it is to get up and do something for your self. I want to make sure everyday I get to be on this earth, I do the best I can to acknowledge that I am where I am because of what I do, and only I can change that.
In light of this post, I guess the title should be: I am the reason.
What can I do to make my life better?