Taking Responsibility!!

There comes a time in everyone's life where we MUST take responsibility for our choices and actions.

I blogged not long ago about decisions and consequences. And while this blog is along the same lines, you'll notice it covers a somewhat different side of it all.

As I said before there are consequences that come with every choice, be it good or bad. But there's also something called responsibility that goes with those choices and decisions.

You WILL pay the consequences for all you do, you don't have a say in that matter. We are all familiar with karma, or you reap what you sow. But to actually take responsibility for your actions and decisions is an entirely different thing.

When you do things you shouldn't do, call it bad choices, call it sin, call it a mistake, YOU are ultimately the one who is responsible for it in the end. YOU alone are the one who controls what you do with your life and your time. You are the one who decides each time you are faced with a dilemma what to do about said problem. If you choose to do the right thing, you are happy to say to others when asked how you handled it, that you did the "right thing". You basically took responisbility for your actions of making the right choice in your behavior.

The same should be true as well when you do the wrong thing. YOU alone were responsible for the decision to go the wrong way, to choose the wrong path. You may have been tempted, but in the end it was your decision.

In my life, there have been MANY times that I've made bad choices or mistakes. Actually I hate the word mistake because I think it seems watered down or sugar-coated. A mistake is accidentally sprinkling too much salt in a recipe, a choice is when you consciously make the decision to go in a certain direction even though you know it's wrong.

BUT there's one thing I've always done in my life and that is take respsonibility for my own actions, for my decisions. I have NEVER tried to put them off on another. I have never tried to blame anyone else for my choices. I do believe that we are who we are because of our past and the events and tragedies that we've endured, but that is NO excuse to make bad choices and cause pain to others.

Are we going to make bad choices? Yes, we are, because we are human. We ALL are human. But it's a sign of maturity when YOU own those bad choices and take responsibility for them.

When you are constantly looking at others to blame, to point a finger at, and to make them look like they are the cause for your bad choices, you are only showing your pride and lack of strength. You are showing the world that you think you are perfect and above making a bad decision. Don't be that person. Be someone who owns every good and bad thing you've done. Because in reality, you may be fooling yourself, but most everyone around you can look and see that YOU are the one who is responsible for that bad choice. Be truthful with yourself, first and foremost and you'll see your life take a turn for the better. You'll start to see things differently and you'll feel better about yourself. You'll stop making so many bad choices after you really face yourself and what you've done. The only way to learn from something and move on, is to face it. I was with someone a few years ago, who NEVER owned anything he did. It was always someone else's fault. One of the last really bad choices he made cost him dearly, landing him in jail twice. Do you know that he still didn't take ownership of that? He still tried to blame the victim of his crime. It's my understanding from a mutual friend that he continues to this day to live his life in the same manner. I find that terribly sad for him. If he would accept his role in the making of his own choices, then and only then would he change, thereby causing his whole life to change.

If you find yourself behaving this way or if anyone has told you more than once that this is you, it's not too late to finally take charge of your life and your choices. Do things differently starting today. Go back and own what you've done. Everyone else knows you own it, you might as well be honest with yourself. You alone, are responsible for your choices.

Remember to work hard and Dream Big!!

Much love,

Christy