I have this morning routine of picking up my double shot cappuccino from this famous heritage cafe near the office. I have become so punctual with my coffee hour that those guys now have started to keep my bill ready. It’s amazing what discipline can do even with coffee! So, on my way back, marching through the honks and footsteps of thousands on what is less than 1000 meters of a stretch, I had this moment of enlightenment about self-responsibility which I want to share with you because I have a feeling that this might just make your day :).
I have been a fighter whole my life. Now you know being a fighter does mean that you get your share of punches. Anytime that I have been down with a punch, I have heard two inner voices talking to me. One that pushes me to get right back up to win; and the other which tells me to just give up and know that I am just not cut out for greatness. Sometimes, the latter is very strong; so much so that I can agree with it. But, it’s because I have realized the true gift of taking responsibility that I always get up to win.
More often than not, we look out at others to blame, and shadow ourselves in a little self-stealing prophecy of pain. We don’t realize this in the moment, but in the long run, the regret of what we could have done or been hurts us immensely.
So, today in that precious moment, I realized of how throughout life we all have someone we can blame for our ‘not so successful’ outings. We say to ourselves things like “only if this person or scenario didn’t exist at home or office or in our circle of people, would we be phenomenal.” But that’s such a false hope, because even if that person or situation doesn’t, for instance, happen to be there in the future, with the exception of a few days or months of seeming peace, we are destined to meet others in our new life who bring along with them new set of challenges, and like a vicious circle, we never get to live fulfilling lives because by putting the blame on others, we end up living ‘only if’ lives.
My fellow humans, please please please wake-up! It’s not because of him or her or them that you aren’t happy; you are unhappy because you are choosing to be. Eleanor Roosevelt once said,“In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”
Until and unless, you accept responsibility for your life, it’s happenings, your actions, emotions and reactions, nothing will change for good. This is the starting point. In addition, one more amazing thing I realized on my small walk this morning was that many of us hide from taking responsibility because to most of us, it sounds challenging, drowning, and boring. Now, won’t you love to hunt those folks down who through history have made taking responsibility sound like a tough task? Or they didn’t, self-responsibility tells us that we do! But then nobody really is stopping us from having some fun while being completely responsible.
Who said it can’t be cool and awesome like the new thing ‘in?’ Why is that we don’t enjoy it? Folks, no body scripted that if we are going to be successful, it needs to be boring. We can enjoy paying the price of responsibility rather than blaming it on other people and things which, sadly, results in us paying the price of regret.
So, promise me today that you are going to take more responsibility for your life than what you do now, and equally important, you will enjoy that responsibility. I think it’s cool that I am responsible for my thoughts, my speech, my emotions, my actions and my life. Makes me sounds like the real man! You too are for real an awesome human. Just bless the world by living up to it because otherwise the world will miss on a part of it’s evolution. Be cool and responsible for your life and don’t blame anybody or anything else for it; instead, look within!
P.S.: One way I take self-responsibility is by picking and reading great books. If you are or want to be the same way, go ahead, look below: ‘The Four Agreements’ is one of the best books I have read on loving myself (yes, I do own a copy myself too 🙂 )
