Responsibility

As I was writing this recent post to my blog, the focus of the piece turned to responsibility. Too many times people don't take responsibility for what they do nor do they take responsibility for what happens to them. Yeah, that's right, you are responsible not only for your actions but also for what happens to you.

This is a concept that a lot of people have trouble understanding. Let me illustrate with a couple of examples.

Imagine your heart is broken because you catch your girlfriend shacking up with another guy in Samui when she tells you that she's on a junket with the girls from the travel agency or that your gf becomes pregnant and you know you're not the father because you had a vasectomy 10 years ago.

Who's responsible for your broken heart? The girl who ripped your heart out of your chest, tossed it on the floor and stomped on it with her heels, or you?

You are.

If you hadn't let her get close to you, your feelings could never have been hurt.

In case you don't get it, here's another example. When you're riding your motocy in Thailand and get T-boned by a step-through, who's responsible?

You are.

When I say this to people they think I'm crazy. "Of course the step-through is responsible" is the answer most often given.

In fact, I can tell you who is responsible for any motorcycle accident - the rider is responsible. The rider CHOSE to get on the bike and ride it, thus making the decision to put himself in harm's way by participating in a risk filled activity. Most people don't take any responsibility for their decisions or actions and feel victimized when something bad happens to them.

If you can get your head around this and really take responsibility for what happens to you, you'll find that it's an incredibly empowering way to live your life. You might say that I'm just playing with words here and that I don't know what I'm talking about. Like I said, most people don't get this and most likely never will.