Responsibility

Responsibility gets a bad rap. The word itself is often said with dour sobriety in reaction to some failure to live up to same: "But it was your responsibility to..."

Learning to accept and integrate the practice of responsibility usually comes with some accomplishment in life. In other words, success can breed a sense of responsibility. Not always. Some people are raised with great privilege and succeed readily because of it. This does not breed a sense of responsibility. This breeds entitlement. 

For those who are not born privileged, achieving goals can stimulate a practice of maintaining what has been achieved. Maintenance is often associated with responsible behavior. For example, if a person struggles to be able to afford his first new car, he will tend to keep that car mechanically maintained and polished. 

Learning to apply this process to my own body in my 30's was a big step in my formation of a personal practice. I stopped smoking when I was thirty. I had been smoking 3 packs of cigarettes a day. I had begun smoking when I was 16. It was my life's one great addiction. Giving it up was brutal. 

The achievement of being free of nicotine and feeling the liberation from severe addiction opened my mind and healed my body. I became a daily runner. I gave up the massive portions of red meat in my diet. I stopped driving for recreation in favor of walking. I learned that behaving responsibly toward my own body brought tremendous gains in my social life and work life. 

Now that I am 63 and have health challenges, responsible action on a daily basis pays off. I know that my responsible actions in maintaining my health and environment maintain my quality of mental and physical experience. This makes me a socially responsible person as well. With a clear mind and observant eye, I am able to perceive needs in my environment to which I can respond. I am present and interactive in my social environment. 

Pointing angry fingers at irresponsible action does very little to facilitate change. Likewise, enabling irresponsible behaviors does very little to facilitate change. The middle path is living responsibly and visibly in my social environment. Interacting from a position of educating the irresponsible is more effective than scolding irresponsible behavior without pointing out alternatives. This is not an easy or comfortable way to be in the modern world, but it is the responsible way.