There is power in taking responsibility for your actions
Tumie Modise | Monday December 4, 2017 17:14
Why is it so difficult for us to accept responsibility for our actions? It took Robert Mugabe a whole week to concede. It took long hours of cajoling, threats, coercion, and I imagine even hypnotherapy to finally convince him that the party was over. In the eve of his departure he finally conceded that indeed things are not as they should be.
Taking responsibility earns you respect. We cannot be perfect all the time, we all make mistakes. When we accept responsibility we are accepting the blame for our actions and also accepting the responsibility for making improvements in our lives.
Accepting responsibility is a measure of one’s self-worth, their level of security, and the true sign of strength and courage. Having this ability can empower you to grow in ways that would bring you great rewards and accomplishments in your life. We have all fallen short in the personal behavior department from time to time.
We all like to feel important and have others have a high opinion of us. Some more than others develop an over-inflated view of themselves.
These tendencies act to wrap us in what many call “denial”, which creates a false perception of self and the inability to accept the truth about us. It then becomes painful to accept that mistakes are possible and when we make them the first reaction is to point the finger at someone else. We refuse to think objectively and accept any involvement for our actions. Taking responsibility can be a very painful thing to do.
The real difference between being responsible and being irresponsible is an indication of how effectively we are managing our lives when the opportunity to make a good or bad choice presents itself. Accepting responsibility – both personal and indirect responsibility – is one of the most important factors in defining a person’s true character. When that responsible moment comes, what you do – or don’t do – is an indication of the type of person you really are.
Failing to accept personal responsibility may work to your advantage on occasion or in the short term. For example, you might get away with keeping your mouth shut about something that you have done, or even blaming someone else for your misdeeds. You might not face consequences for your wrong actions at the time.
However, make no mistake about this – eventually this poor choice will catch up with you and, it will typically cause more pain for you down the road than if you had stepped up to the situation, took responsibility for it and honestly said, “I did it!”.
Over time, failing to accept responsibility has severe consequences. Just ask anyone in incarceration.
First and foremost, it has a devastating effect on your own mind and heart. When you know you have failed to take responsibility for something that you should, it will begin to bother you, to eat at you, little by little. Pretty soon, you will feel very small inside.
That may sound like an exaggeration, but it is the truth. Taking responsibility for your own actions makes life work better. Remember, self-respect is the worth or value you place on your own life. Therefore, one of the consequences of continuingly failing to accept personal responsibility is that you eventually guarantee that you will view your life as having little to no real value.
There is also the aspect of gaining the respect of others. Sometimes we mistake this to mere attention seeking stunts. Gaining other people’s respect, however small provides value to your life – in your own eyes as well as the eyes of others.
There is a good chance that when you avoid accepting personal responsibility, someone will know that you have miserably failed in this way.
In other words, some other person may know that you are responsible for the wrongdoing or poor choice, and when they see you fail to accept responsibility, they will lose all respect for you. If this happens on a frequent basis, chances are you will never gain the respect of others that you hope to have one day.
Accepting responsibility is a serious matter. Sometimes, especially when we are young, we do not always see the long-term effects of our behavior. But, make no mistake, accepting responsibility – both personal and indirect – is a major factor in receiving the respect and admiration of those around you.
Accepting responsibility is not only the right thing to do, but it will pay more long-term dividends than you can now imagine. (additional text by Shaun Jackson, 2014)