Taking Responsibility For Our Actions

When do we start taking responsibility for our own actions? It appears that we no longer own our actions.

Owning our actions involves taking personal responsibility for what we do. Why is it that when something goes wrong, we need some place to lay the blame? Part of being a mature, responsible adult is to know that when we make a decision in life we are responsible for the outcome, not someone else. 

Let’s look at the following examples: 

A married man goes out and has an affair. He blames his wife for not satisfying his needs in bed. Did he ever stop to think that maybe his problem lies with him and not with his wife?

Your electricity gets turned off because you didn’t pay the bill. Do you blame the postal carrier for not bringing the bill? Do you blame the electrical company, because you didn’t receive the bill? You knew the bill was due. You pay it every month, don’t you? It comes down to responsibility.

You join a website and the administrator bans you for breaking the terms of service and you become angry and blame the administrator. Why? You knew the rules of the website upon joining and had you not known the rules, you should have prepared yourself better by reading them. 

Your daughter gets pregnant at 15 and you blame Britney Spears (or one of her ilk) for influencing her to dress sexy. Yet, if you purchased the clothes for her and allowed her to wear them, don’t you bear some responsibility?

Your son gets suspended from school for fighting, drinking and drugs. You don’t take responsibility as the parent. You blame the child and his companions. Well, don’t family values start at home? If that isn’t the way it is in your home, maybe you had no business being a parent. It is the rules that you set down and enforce that count when your children are very young and very impressionable. 

When do we start taking responsibility for our lives? We all have a responsibility to pay our bills, go to work, follow the rules and bring up our families within societal norms. 

It is really unfortunate that we seem to be raising a generation of children that don’t take responsibility for their actions either. They blame their friends, they blame their teachers, and they blame everyone around them, but never themselves.

When you feel you are mistreated, why is it that you just can’t seem to let go of it, get over it and move on with your life? If you feel someone has wronged you and doesn’t want to own up to the fact that they have mistreated you then there isn’t much that you can do about it. You need to accept that the person isn’t going to see any wrongdoing on their part, so pick up your bruised ego and get on with your life. 

When do we learn as adults to be responsible for our own actions? When do we start living with the consequences of our decisions? When do we let go of blaming and being a victim? It serves no one. It sure doesn’t help you.

Has not accepting responsibility for your actions made you happy? Maybe it’s time to admit your mistakes rather than blame someone else. 

Being a responsible adult means that you accept credit when you do the right thing and work toward correction when you make a wrong choice in your life.

We adults seem to want to be treated as adults unless it’s not in our favour and then we want to blame someone else; anyone but ourselves.

Isn’t it time each of us assumed Responsibility For Our Actions in our lives? By being liable for our actions and taking ownership of them? Isn’t it time to stop making excuses for your life? When you have done wrong, admit to your mistakes and then get on with your life.