Howdie Friends and fellow Bloggers
I am sharing this with you it is wisdom from my mentor Bob Proctor. If you will take this
information As a wake up call in your life or as an eye opener or maybe a physical shaking
out of whare you are now. Responsibility Is a choice. I often refer to it as being the key
to freedom. Your future canbe everything you have ever dreamed about and then some.
You have the talent and tools to experience one beautiful day after another. That is, in
fact, what I believe the architect of the universe had in mind for you when you were created.
If that was not so,you would have never been endowed with such awesome powers.
My good friend and mentor, Val Van De Wall wrote, "When a person takes responsibility
for their life and the results they are obtaining, they will cease to blame others as the
cause of their results. Since you cannot change other people, blame is inappropriate.
Blaming others causes a person to remain bound in a prison of their own making. When
you take responsibility, blame is eliminated and you are free to grow."
Those who haven't taken responsibility for their results and their life often find themselves
in a mental prison, and in many ways, a mental prison is a much worse place to live
than a federal prison or penitentiary. Mental torment can destroy just about everything
that is necessary for a meaningful life: self image, self respect, relationships and a host
of other attributes. It will even cause a person's physical health to deteriorate.
Responsibility opens the door and permits you to walk into freedom. If you find yourself
confined to such a mental state, understand there is a way out. Escape is encouraged
and possible. The master key that fits the lock is clearly marked and is within everyone's
reach. It is responsibility.
I think it would be a fair comment to say that the people we have the greatest respect
for are those who have accepted responsibility for every aspect of their lives. These
individuals rarely duck responsibility by blaming someone else. When faced with an
unfavorable situation, they are usually aware they have attracted the negative
circumstance and know everything happens for a reason. When this happens, they
merely learn their lesson and keep reaching out, above and beyond to the new
frontier, taking responsibility for whatever happens, every step of the way.
When a person refuses to accept responsibility for their life, they reject their uniqueness
and they turn all of their special powers over to other people, situations or
circumstances. They are then no longer in control of their future. They will be hoping
something good will happen, but because of past experiences they will very likely be
expecting something they do not want to happen. When you accept responsibility for
your life and for the results which you alone determine, you will develop confidence
that your dreams can be realized, that your plans can be carried out. Awareness of this
magnificent truth is one of the greatest, if not THE greatest thing that can happen in
your life. It's Aladdin's lamp, a magic wand, the tooth fairy all wrapped up in one.
Dr. Rollo May, a distinguished psychiatrist, once wrote, "The opposite of courage in our
society is not cowardice, it is conformity." It requires great courage to take responsibility
for your life. It's so much easier to blame someone else or something outside of you.
George Bernard Shaw said, "People are always blaming their circumstances for what
they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the
people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can't find
them, they make them." I believe Shaw was right. In my opinion, those who win big in
life take responsibility and create their own destiny.
Earlier on it was suggested that responsibility brings with it a certain amount of freedom.
For some, these last few paragraphs may be life-altering. And, with the proper
understanding, I guarantee it has the power to free you of unnecessary mental weight
that you may have been carrying around with you all of your life. The concept to which
I'm referring has been misunderstood by so many and has probably single-handedly
ruined more lives than one can possibly imagine. Ignorance of this principle will most
certainly cause a person to experience the destructive emotions of anger, guilt and
resentment.
Here it is: there is a vast difference between being responsible "for" and being
responsible "to." It seems so simple, but I don't want you to let its apparent simplicity
fool you. I'm going to repeat it again. There is a big difference between being
responsible "for" and being responsible "to."
It's not uncommon to hear parents blame themselves and assume responsibility for
something that has happened to their child, and that child might be 40 years old! "If
only we ..." Or, "I should have …" Far too often we inappropriately assume responsibility
for something, when in fact our real duty to the person may have ended 20 years ago.
Unfortunately for most, they carry that baggage around with them for life, never
realizing they have a choice.
The correct interpretation of this is: you are responsible FOR your feelings and your
results - not another person's. You may be responsible TO another person for one thing
or another, but not FOR another person. The exception, of course, is when you choose
to take on the responsibility of raising children until they reach the age of maturity. In
that case, you are both responsible TO and FOR them, until such time as they become
responsible for themselves.
At times, it might even be appealing to contemplate having another person take on
our responsibilities for us. We could even trick ourselves into believing that by doing this,
we would be more free to play, have fun and do the things we wanted. Without serious
thought, it might never enter our mind that exactly the opposite would happen. When
you permit others to take on your responsibilities, yo u become dependent on them.
They become the giver and you become the receiver. Your well-being is dependent
upon their generosity. Hopefully, at some point, it will become very clear that this kind of
behaviour only leads to a life of lack, limitation, resentment and confusion on the parts
of both the giver and the receiver.
I've never witnessed anything positive that has come from the misuse of responsibility.
When you take on the responsibility for another person's feelings, results, or actions, you
destroy their self-reliance and self-respect.
You are responsible for all of the results in your life. You are responsible for your
happiness. You are responsible for your health. You are responsible for your wealth. You
are responsible for your emotional state. Regardless of what has happened in the past,
the future lies ahead with an open slate, waiting for you to take control and create a
wonderful life for yourself. Winston Churchill, who certainly knew something about
responsibility, said, "Responsibility is the price of greatness."
Here's a marvelous affirmation that you can verbalize every night before you go to
sleep and every morning as you step out of bed.
I am responsible for my life ...
for my feelings ...
for my personal growth ...
and for every result I get.