4 Key Benefits Of Responsibility.

“There is deep liberation and joy that comes from a mindset where taking responsibility is not a chore but an opportunity.” — Zoe Weil.

We’ve all been in the position of creating our own problems, then made it a mission not to repeat them. Then there are those people stuck somewhere between acknowledging their role in ‘said problems’ and suffering from the consequences, sometimes over and over again.

People deny themselves freedom and liberty when they’re chained down by problems they’ve not acknowledged as their own or made attempts to solve. It must become an enormous burden to carry around problems that have solutions.

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Learning from mistakes takes accountability and responsibility. As you may already know, I write a lot about my experience with narcissists. Narcissists are always the heroes or victims, which means they never learn and cycle through time, energy, and people repeating the same old tired mistakes.

“Somewhere out there is a tree tirelessly producing oxygen so you can breathe. I think you owe it an apology” — House.

We’re all capable of a certain level of narcissism; you can’t go through life playing the empathy card all day long. The difference is that most of us have the ability to gather enough insight into ourselves to consider others in our decisions.

A small amount of narcissism used at the right time and place gives you some personal power and can prevent others from taking advantage of you. You want to avoid the intent to harm and self-entitlement end of the narcissistic spectrum.

Four key benefits of taking responsibility.

1. Freedom.

Acknowledging and accepting the consequences of our negative actions saves us from telling lies, making excuses, or twisting stories. Responsibility is freedom because it gives us control over our own lives; freedom to do what we want and be who we want to be. We hand over our personal power when we blame something or someone else for our actions while owning up takes that power back.

2. Integrity.

Integrity always chooses what is right over convenience or self-interest. Sacrificing our pride in the short term and owning up to mistakes leads to personal and social integrity in the long term. Responsible people forge stronger connections. People with integrity have learned to trust themselves to trust the right people, so they rarely waste time and energy building on weak relationships.

3. Respect.

People with self-respect and respect for others are open, honest, and reliable. Respect isn’t something you have to earn; it's a fundamental right of all living things. Respect can be lost, though. One of the easiest ways to lose respect is not to take responsibility. It takes courage to admit fault and shows a willingness to change when you take the direction of a solution instead of creating more problems lying, blaming, or covering up mistakes.

4. Experience.

You can not beat experience for teaching us lessons. Taking responsibility allows us to learn about ourselves and how we relate to others, all the while making little adjustments that bring about new experiences. With experience comes growth and progress.

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Responsibility is owning up to your mistakes, following through with promises and obligations, standing up for your rights and the rights of others, and accepting your role in the actions of people who are your responsibility.

Responsibility is also accepting praise from others for achievements along with honouring the self-respect and integrity that comes with taking responsibility.

Making responsible choices leads to better consequences. Part of growing up is living and learning, you're going to make mistakes and face consequences, it's how you manage what you learn from this day forward that matters.

Thank you for reading.❤

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