Take Responsibility

We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until…we have stopped saying, “It got lost,” and say, “I lost it.” – Sidney J. Harris

Are you in the habit of shifting blame on to someone or something else? When we do this we remove from ourselves the power to work out our problems. After all, you had nothing to do with it, did you? Fate caused it, so you'll wait for fate to fix it. If only beggars had horses!

Taking ownership of, or responsibility for our problems enables us to take a critical look at the situation and do the following:

(a) Identify what we may have done right that worked, and wrong that didn’t.
(b) Keep doing the right and try to fix the wrong.
(c) Seek help, get it and fix the problem.
(d) Learn what works for us, and what doesn’t.

“It got lost,” says that fate cruelly took it away. “I lost it,” means that I could try to find it and I can take steps to be more careful next time, to prevent further loss.

Which option looks more productive to you? Remember this the next time you are tempted to pass the buck!

Copyright ©2009 Oma Edoja