WonderFull Living Newsletter

Being Responsible…

“Forces beyond your control can take away everything you possess except one thing, your freedom to choose how you will respond to the situation” Victor E. Frankl

When I facilitate workshops and mention the word responsible, more often than not, participants cringe (as did I once upon a time). In a society filled with increasing desire we are conditioned to believe that we have ‘many responsibilities’ – a cause of much stress in the world today. It is bred into us from the time we go to school that we have ‘responsibilities’ to fulfill in life – finish school ‘successfully’, find a ‘successful’ career. Then we are led to believe that to continue being successful we must ‘have’ a successful marriage, we must ‘own’ a home (yet it’s the banks that own it, not us), we must ‘have’ a family – and usually in that order. In the meantime, we quietly sink deeper and deeper into debt, into anxiety and into depression.

Let me clarify ‘being responsible’… Responsible means being able to respond in a self empowered way to whatever is happening around me – it has nothing to do with ‘owning’ or ‘having’ anything. When I relinquish all the ‘wants’ (which these days have become ‘needs’) and simply focus on responding to anyone and anything in an empowered, uplifting and life-giving way, I am being responsible. It means I am 100% accountable for my own attitude and actions – I alone control my behavior – I do not control the behavior of others nor does anyone else control mine (unless of course I allow them to – at which point I stop being responsible and start blaming). Our only true responsibility is to fulfill our dreams and goals and be the best example we can be – this means to pay close attention to our own behavior, not the behavior of anyone else.

‘Responsibility’ is a Virtue – an inner strength – it has absolutely nothing to do with worldly success or possessions, but everything to do with inner power. The more I cultivate my inner strengths, the less I point the finger of blame at others or at ‘situations’ for my lack of success – this method allows us to more readily be available to help others succeed. As a result, I will automatically be successful in all I do in my life and I will be genuinely happy for the success of others!

Question: How responsible are you really? (how do you respond to your environment?)

Consideration: Why might you blame others for things not working in your life?

Action: Pay close attention to your thoughts, your words and your behavior. Do NOT focus on the behavior of others (it’s a waste of your precious time and energy). You might not like what others do or say but do NOT focus on it as you cannot change their behavior, you can only change how you respond (be responsible). Applying all our energy and focus on changing ourselves is how we change the world – one habit at a time. When we start changing our own attitude, our actions become a valuable example for others.

If you would like to respond to or clarify any of the above contact info@resoulutions4life.com

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Love Annemarie