Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Irresponsibility

I'm sure I've blogged about it before and I know I'll blog about it again at some point.  I may at times ramble and be a bit off track, you should be used to that if you've read my blog before.
 
Irresponsibility pisses me off.  YOU are in charge of your life.  YOU make choices and those choices have consequences, good or bad.  Yes, occasionally things happen that are out of your control.  Do we need a definition of the word occasionally?  It is an adverb that means at infrequent or irregular intervals.  Not all the time.  Your action, or inaction, is almost always what causes things to happen, or not happen, in your life.  The world does not happen to you, you are responsible for what happens in your life.  Do you have to like it?  No, but you need to take responsibility for it.
 
I'm fat.  Do you know how I got fat?  God did it.  Just kidding!  I made bad choices and now I am physically paying that price.  
 
Look at that.  Responsibility accepted.  Now, I've accepted passive responsibility.  I need to do something about it.

The world is full of people either not taking responsibility or taking passive responsibility.  It needs people who take active responsibility.  What does that mean, active responsibility?  It means acknowledging your responsibility and doing something to fix the situation, make sure the situation doesn't happen again, or at the very least, doing something to make up for your part of the clusterfuck you have created.  Why do I assume that the situation isn't positive?  Do you really need to ask?  If the situation is a positive one, you rarely find people not accepting responsibility.

Let's look at the fat situation shall we?  Why did I gain weight?  I have a slow metabolism.  I'm inundated with pictures of food, usually not good for me, all the time through the media.  I didn't know that double double at In N Out was bad for me.  Fast forward two years and I've lost the equivalent of an average adult non-American male.  Look at what I did!  I worked hard and I lost all the weight.  It was all me.  I am amazing because I have triumphed over this horrible affliction.

I hope at this point somebody has slapped the snot out of me.  What a hypocrite!  Would I be awesome for losing that weight?  HELL YEAH!  What would be even better?   If I acknowledged why I was fat in the first place.  Bad choices=bad results.  Occasionally, bad choices=good results.  Hey, check out that word again.  Pretty cool how I did that.  *Please tell me you just rolled your eyes*

People love to point fingers at why things in this country and/or world are the way that they are.  It boils down to responsibility.  We expect people to fix the problems that exist but we won't even accept active responsibility for our own actions.  Saying that you accept responsibility and then doing the same thing again is not accepting responsibility.  It's telling people what they want to hear so they will shut up.  It's doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.  It's insanity. 
 
I don't care what you did or why.  I just want you to suck it up, acknowledge that for one shining moment you fucked up, and fix it.  That goes for me too!  Did you forget to tell your wife you were out of coffee filters and it's time for bed?  Here's what I want to hear. "I screwed up and forgot to tell you that we're out of coffee filters.  Here's how I'm going to fix it.  *insert appropriate way to deal with situation*.  Did you lose your license because you committed a misdemeanor hit and run?  Here's what I want to hear. "I made a bad choice.  I will take the bus/walk/ride a bike and not tell you how unfair it is that you can still drive".  Did you get fat because you ate shit that you knew was bad for you?  "I made myself fat.  It is not your fault and I will work to make myself healthier".  Did you promise to lower taxes than screw everyone who voted for you?  "I lied to you.  You have no reason to believe me again.  I will work to regain your trust and do what is right".  Did the person you voted for lie?  Do you not like what is going on in our political world?  Did you not vote?  "I will vote.  I will run for office.  I will find someone to run for office that I trust.  I will work to get the people elected that I think will make a difference.  I will protest the injustice of our economy".  
 
It's all about choices.
Own. Your. Shit.
The world will be a better place.

That is all.

5 comments:

  1. I loved this. It's the truth!
    I've been doing anything BUT owning my shit the past few years. But no more!

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  2. OMG. I think you are me. My motto is: take accountability. I absolutely loved what you had to say, and am desperately trying to raise my kids to take ownership of their choices. Great great post!

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  3. Thanks for stopping by!!! I love this post...totally agree!!!! Great blog!!

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  4. Sandra, Thank you so much! It's so awesome to hear about other parents raising kids to take responsibility. It's so hard to do in this world so kudos!

    Mom of the Fab 4, Thanks :)

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