Whimsy and Responsibility

A long time ago, I was flat out told I was the only one who can make me feel any one way.  I rebutted immediately and told her she was wrong and severed any further guidance from her.  But, in the end I wound up learning a valuable lesson about responsibility as it pertains to feelings.  Yes, I can choose to remain upset about something someone said or did.  In a way, I determine the length of time I allow myself to feel a certain way about an incident.  But to say to me that words and actions of another can’t make me feel anything is a massive untruth.

The words I choose and the actions I take bear weight.  Whether I’ve chosen to cut someone down or lift them up, I am responsible for making someone feel happy or sad as a result of my actions.  I fully own things I say and do and if I transgress (which I do frequently) I will apologize and seek to repent.  Taking responsibility for what I do is vital in the development of me.  Flitting about this world without care for repercussion or recourse is ignorant and will eventually get the better of me.  I am still paying for bad karma, I don’t need to create any more.

For me, responsibility plays a large part in my dealings with my fellow man.  I try earnestly to treat others the way I want to be treated.  It feels one-sided most of the time, but I don’t allow that to affect my chi…too much.  I try to give thought to the words that come out of my mouth.  A five second pause to quickly assess the reception of my words.  Some, who know me, believe I have no filter.  Let me assure you, I do.  I choose my words most of the time with care.  If I offend, it isn’t typically personal.  There are circles I speak more freely, but on the whole I don’t go out of my way to piss anyone off.

There have been many times I have sat back and watched a person go through their life with seemingly no remorse.  They have left a trail of rubble and ruin behind them and are totally oblivious.  It is nothing short of maddening to see people like this storm through life without responsibility for anything.  And to twist the plot further, when life does catch up to them, they’re the ‘victim’ and befuddled as to why this is “happening to them.”  But because there has been this history of whimsy it’s impossible to get them to understand the whys of what’s going on. 

There are tons of cute quotes to encourage and inspire positive living.  Responsibility matters.  Live life on purpose.  When you do, you’ll find taking ownership of what goes right is just as rewarding as taking ownership of what goes wrong.  Those lessons won’t suck any less, but the perspective is more readily available when our vision isn’t narrowed by fault.