CHAPTER 12
TAKING RESPONSIBILITY
Somehow we learn who we really are and then live with that decision. —Eleanor Roosevelt
Are you creating your reality? Could it be that the fortune or misfortune any one of us might experience is actually a result of our deepest thoughts and beliefs? If that is true, then all the blaming since the beginning of time has been a colossal waste of time.
If you are in debt, unlucky in love, can never hold onto a job, drink too much, have no purpose, or always seem to be a victim of circumstance, then own it. This is the reality you are creating for yourself.
Circumstances don’t keeps us down, we do. Stuck in a rut? Your thoughts dug the trench. Always the victim? Then lose the victim mentality.
By taking responsibility for our thoughts and actions, directing ourselves to a new consciousness, then and only then will our reality change. Remember, the change in consciousness always comes first.
The moment you accept responsibility for everything, and I mean everything that happens in your life you have become very powerful. It means you realize that you are in charge of who you are.
It means you stop giving away your power by allowing yourself to become a victim. In anything you do there is a cost and a payoff. It is when we weigh those two against each otherthat we make a responsible choice for our behavior.
Make a statement about your behavior. Choose an area that you don’t like to discuss with others. Pick a part of your personality where responsibility isn’t well served. We are then going to list a cost for that behavior and a corresponding payoff for that trait. There has to be a payoff or you wouldn’t adopt the behavior. It is the costs that you most likely have avoided. Now is the time for accepting those costs and choosing to be responsible. An example is listed below.
Example Statement of Behavior:
I purposely hide my emotions and true intentions.
Now it is your turn: (List the following in your notebook)
Statement of Behavior: