Responsibility

“I must do something' always solves more problems than Something must be done.” unknown

I think taking responsibility has an empowering effect on us. On the other hand, looking to someone else to act, dis-empowers us, it takes the wind out of our sails if you may. It causes us to resign to our circumstances, environment or fate. The mantra becomes ‘things never change or things will remain the same’. Yet the opposite is true. As it has been said, the only constant thing is change.”

For us to live an inspired harmonious life, we should take responsibility for the outcome of our lives. As it is, we cannot change the past, but we can change or influence the future by the actions we take now. So each present moment has the potential to change our future positively or negatively depending on the action or actions we take. 

Brian Tracey in his book the Power of Self-discipline said “The failure to accept responsibility and the attempt to foist responsibility for things in your life that make you unhappy onto other people, institutions, and situations completely distort cause and effect, undermine your character, weaken your resolve, and diminish your humanity. They lead to making endless excuses.”

Similarly, Jack Canfield in his book the Principles of Success said “If you want to be successful, you have to take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life. This includes the level of your achievements, the results you produce, the quality of your relationships, the state of your health and physical fitness, your income, your debts, your feelings - everything! That is not easy. In fact, most of us have been conditioned to blame something outside of ourselves for the parts of our life we don’t like. We blame our parents, our bosses, our friends, our coworkers, our spouse, the weather, the economy, the government, our astrological chart, our lack of money-anyone or anything we can pin the blame on. We never look at where the real problem is - ourselves.”

There is a story told of employees who were looking into a mirror. One day all the employees arrived at work to find a notice at the door that said “The person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away yesterday. We invite you to join the funeral session in the gym room.” At first each employee was sad to hear the news of the passing of this colleague. However, after a while, they were curious to know who this individual was, who had been hindering their growth and the growth of the company. 

When the employees had all gathered for the funeral, they all got a chance to go look into the coffin. The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up. Everyone was thinking: “Who is this guy who was hindering my progress?” One by one the employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside they suddenly became speechless.  They stood nearby the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul. You see there was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see themselves.

There was also a sign next to the mirror that said: “There is only one person who is capable of setting limits to your growth in this company: it is YOU.” You are the only person who can revolutionize your life. You are the only person who can influence your happiness, and the realization of your success. Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your partner changes, when or your company changes. Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life. 

For us to live an inspired harmonious life, we must not let our past, our current circumstances or our environment rob us of the power to act in one way or the other.

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