Has responsibility become a bad word?

Posted by on February 4th, 2012 | No Comments »


Let me set this up a bit.  I have a house full of teenagers.  That is probably enough to explain the title of this writing.   Taking  full responsibility for your life is a big deal.  Seeing a project through to the end is a challenge.  It is suppose to be.  The good stuff comes with dedication and commitment.

What does responsibility mean? We must start with the root word, responsible. According to dictionary.com it means:

  1. answerable or accountable, as for something within on’s power, control, or management
  2. involving accountability ore responsibility
  3. having a capacity for moral decisions and therefore accountable.

Wow!  This is a big deal. When you are “where the buck stops” then you are standing in truth.  This accountability thing begins at such a small age.  Clean up after yourself, put away your toys, do your homework… and the list goes on.  What I notice in my home is a wide range of personal ownership.  Some dread participating in school due to their grades are a combination of their choices.  Some take ownership for their space and take care of their things.  Others need to be CONSTANTLY reminded to participate in life and its tasks (bathe, clean up, sit up, eat).

There are times when responsibility is treated like it is a bad word.  I believe that goes along with the territory in teenage realm.  Or at least we have grown to accept that as a society.  It seems as though the children look for the least amount of effort to put into their task at hand to “get away with it”.  If my husband happens to leave a glass in the sink, I quickly notice that there are 5 more glasses in the sink by the end of the day.  It is as though they might think the glass is lonely and needs friends.  Rarely does someone accept responsibility for completing their task effectively, efficiently, and with pride. Let me be honest here, hoping for someone to take pride with their work is a whole different issue.  We are free, just not free of responsibility!  I realize I too was a lazy teenager.  I call my folks and apologize regularly.  They just laugh, I am not sure what to make of that one.

Does it have to be this way?  Is there a blip in how we hand the torch to our children.  I  see that we hand them everything with very little responsibility on their part.  We want them to have a better life then we had.  Have we made them into dependent young adults?  Are we teaching them skills that will serve them to be independent adults?  Are they free thinkers, creative, and innovative?  Or are they dependent and greedy?  As I look around my neighborhood, read FB, and then look into the news I notice there is a great lack of ownership everywhere.  Are we teaching our children that responsibility is optional?  Almost like it is an elective in school.  It is the grows up opportunity to demonstrate true responsibility of one’s own life.  It is our job to be our best self!  Step up, be you, and take ownership for what that looks like.   Things do change when you do that, however it is worth it!

It is time for each one of us to allow others to take ownership as well.  Replacing the blame game with truth would truly transform the world.  When companies step forward and authentically take responsibility for their success as well as their mistakes trust and credibility are a byproduct.  Those things become reality  through demonstration.  We can verbally proclaim our faith and live in a manner that is opposite.  Imagine if when your kids destroyed the TV room owned up and fixed it on their own without having to be asked?  How about when your boss makes a poor choice and took action to educate and correct the situation?  What about our politicians owning up to their choices, or even actually doing what they say?  Or estranged parents put their children’s best interest first rather than digress into their own childish tug a war?  What would it look like?  Better or just different?

The common theme to true success is Own your Own life!  Let others own theirs!  That means we can’t swoop in and rescue just before the disaster.  We already know that we learn from BOTH our successes and mistakes.  I have learned so much in starting my business.  Making mistakes in setting up websites, or in bookkeeping provide opportunities to learn as well as ask for help.  When doing those tasks correctly the success is so much sweeter!

We are free, not free from responsibility!Free, but not from responsibility


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