Responsibility

Responsibility
A few years ago I learned about a principle that has stuck with me over the years. Just recently the idea of being responsible was forcibly brought home to me. Here is the principle: If you are present in any situation you have some level of responsibility for what is happening or has happened. Now that has the feel of over assumption and the sense that you are at fault. But, not so. It merely means that if you are present and something goes down, you are involved whether you like it or not. For all you know, the situation might not have developed at all except for your being present.

What this means for me is that I take the responsibility for whatever happens in my sphere or in my presence. The other day, I was talking to one of my neighbors. He began to back his truck up while we continued to talk. As he did so, he hooked his own mailbox with the passenger side mirror and broke the mirror. I was responsible. If I hadn’t been there, this would probably not have happened. I was not at fault and certainly not to be blamed, as he had made the decision to back up and had done so. If our conversation had been carried on in other circumstances, the mirror would not have broken. So, while I am not blameworthy, or at fault myself, never the less, I was responsible for what happened.

The lesson is that I am in charge of what goes on around me to some extent and that I am willing to assume that responsibility. It means that I don’t distance myself from what is occurring, and that I have choices

I’ll probably get some back talk on this, but that’s what the reality of life is all about. I choose to be responsible for my life and how it impacts what is going on.