David St. Lawrence wrote about how the glass isn’t half-empty or half-full.
Life sweeps onward through time and space, even for those who are hiding under rocks like a hellgrammite. There is no inevitability that things will “improve” or “decline”. There is only change and your own potential to exert control over some part of that change.
At at given moment, you can bring about a dramatic change in your own future by deciding to confront what it is that you are doing and how it is related to your own chances of personal survival. It is this incredibly powerful, yet subtle action of facing something and taking responsibility for some part of it that starts you an the road to taking control of your destiny.
I’ve already learned the eye-opening realization that I can control my life’s course. In fact, even when I didn’t know this fact, my life was still being changed by my own actions or inaction. My decisions to do or not to do resulted in what I did on a day to day basis, therefore impacting my week, month, year, and life. It is humbling to know that I have only myself to blame for what’s wrong in my life, but it was also empowering to know that all I need is myself. Looking back, everytime I did well, it was because I took responsibility for my own actions. Everytime I felt in trouble, I also was blaming other people.
There are a few keys to taking control of your life. You need to be able to control what you think since all action leads from thought. Joan of Arc said, “All battles are first won or lost in the mind.” You need to be able to discipline yourself to take action instead of getting stuck in analysis paralysis. Finally, you need to take responsibility and stop assuming that circumstance or other outside influences have more of an impact than you do. All life is change, but you can take charge and make sure that it isn’t left to chance. “Go with the flow” is a nice saying, but it is a horrible motto for your life.
One reply on “Responsibility”
I couldn’t have expressed it better myself! Great post.
I never realized that “Go with the flow” was an abdication of responsibility, yet it is! It seems almost reasonable because it’s politically correct and so non-confrontational. When you go with the flow, your destination is based on someone else’s agenda. Sobering thought…