FRIDAY REVIEW: RESPONSIBILITY
How willingly do you take on responsibility? Here are three responsibility-related posts you may have missed.
“I have an existential map. It has ‘you are here’ written all over it.”
Category Archives: Responsibility
“How can you have a much lighter approach to life?”
“How can you have a much lighter approach to life?”
—Author Unknown
Image from Unsplash by Christian Erfurt
Who are the people in your professional or personal worlds that seem to carry a very heavy load throughout their days?
How burdened do you feel given your own backpack of commitments, priorities, and responsibilities?
What are the costs to your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being?
When eustress—the positive and productive form of stress—exceeds its limits, it cascades over the threshold into distress, which can significantly impact our immune systems and can even lead to disease.
EXERCISE:
Take 5 to 10 minutes to lift your foot off the gas pedal of life and do a Google search on “Stress Management” or “Self-Care Strategies” to help you lighten your approach to life.
Feel free to reply to this post with the strategies or approaches you commit to taking.
“What is the problem that you are the answer to?”
“What is the problem that you are the answer to?”
—Author Unknown
Image from Unsplash by Hans-Peter Gauster
Consider all the roles and responsibilities you have in a typical day. How is it that you create value in your professional and personal communities?
Which of these efforts create the greatest intrinsic and extrinsic value for others and at the same time bring the greatest joy and life satisfaction to you?
Consider the overlapping of these areas as your personal and professional brand or niche. How much of your day do you expend in these efforts versus those that feel like an obligation or burden?
EXERCISE:
What are your special talents and unique abilities that light you up and solve meaningful problems in the world?
How might you realign your daily efforts to spend far more of your precious time doing what you were meant to do?
“Live a gentle, human-sized life.”
“Live a gentle, human-sized life.”
—Will Kestrel, kestralcreek.com
Image from Unsplash by Henning Witzel
Did you know that the United States population of 328,748,284 represents just 4.27% of the world population?
Despite our modest population footprint, the U.S. consumes 24% of the world’s energy, one third of the paper, and 27% of the aluminum.
If you do the math and all people around the world consumed resources as we do, we would need about six planet earths. Given the increasing global population and the fact that all nations are on a journey towards greater prosperity and quality of life, how can this continue?
EXERCISE:
Mahatma Gandhi once said that the world has enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed. What actions can and will you take – starting today – to live a more gentle, human-sized life?
Elbow Grease is the Best Polish
“Elbow grease is the best polish.”
—English Proverb
When I was a boy, Vaseline was always in our medicine cabinet. This magical goo is simply a brand of petroleum jelly used for cosmetic purposes like removing makeup or soothing dry skin.
We also found that a little dab of Vaseline could put quite a shine on our shoes, and provide a bit of waterproofing as a bonus!
For us Baby Boomers, the term “elbow grease” simply means hard work and doing what it takes to make something good even better.
EXERCISE:
Which current personal or professional project would shine a bit brighter with a bit more elbow grease from you or others?
To Drift is to Be in Hell
“To drift is to be in Hell. To be in Heaven is to Steer.”
—George Bernard Shaw, Irish Playwright
Image from Unsplash
Consider how you feel when you read these phrases:
- I feel stuck
- I’ve plateaued in my career
- My life has no direction
- I’m lost
- I’m not getting anywhere
- I’m bored
Try on these phrases instead:
- I’m excited about the day ahead!
- I can’t wait to get there!
- I feel passionate and purposeful each day
- I am working toward my goal of …
- My focus and efforts will get me there!
EXERCISE:
Where do you feel adrift, personally or professionally?
How can you experience greater happiness by steering and guiding your life in a more heavenly direction?
Quarrels Would Not Last Long
“Quarrels would not last long if the fault were only on one side.”
-Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld, 17th Century French Author
Image from Times of Malta
How often do you observe quarrels in your personal or professional worlds? If, for some reason, you don’t see much, simply take a look at our political environment and the resulting media circus!
Since it clearly takes two to tango, why is it that many of us blame others for missing a step or for stepping on each others toes?
What if, instead of pointing our index finger at others, we acknowledge the three fingers pointing back at us and take greater responsibility for our current realities?
EXERCISE:
What would happen in your relationships and your world if you looked at what’s right and good about others, and take greater responsibility for the quarrels you may experience?
Often we change jobs
“Often we change jobs, friends, and spouses instead of ourselves.”
⏤Arkbarali Jetha, Author of Reflections, Combined Edition
Image from Time to Play
Are you familiar with the phrase, “Wherever you go, there you are?”
Although it may seem obvious, this thought has tremendous implications in regard to our happiness, success, and general life satisfaction. Simply look at all the people and places in your life that aren’t working, or causing you some level of upset and struggle.
How much responsibility and accountability do you place on your own shoulders in these situations? How often do you blame others, or the system, for your dissatisfaction?
EXERCISE:
In what situations and with whom is it time to take greater responsibility and accountability for how you experience life?
Be Your Own Hero
“There comes a time when you have to be your own hero.”
-Author Unknown
Image from Flickr by Loren Javier
Action films are one of the most popular movie genres, especially as we enter the summer months. Can you recall, as a child, reading comic books by DC and Marvel? Today, a great deal of their revenues and profits come from telling their stories of adventure and heroism on the big screen.
The classic theme of The Hero’s Journey is one of the most popular and has been reused, refreshed, and adapted innumerable times over many years, simply because we all connect with it and because it touches our deeply held human instincts.
EXERCISE:
Where and in what situations it is time for you to be your own hero?
Where can you help bring out the heroes in others in your personal or professional worlds?
Primary Choices in Life
“There are two primary choices in life: to accept conditions as they exist, or accept the responsibility for changing them.”
— Denis Waitley, American motivational speaker and writer
image from http://www.faithingyourblueprint.com
When I read today’s quote, I felt a bit troubled. Observing the world around me, I notice many people making a third, and yet very undesirable choice in life: the choice to be the victim. This is where individuals, organizations, and sometimes even nations, blame others for their current conditions.
Waitley points to two better choices for us to consider as we journey through our days. As the serenity prayer suggests, it is often helpful to simply accept those things we cannot control or influence, and of course, accept and take responsibility for those situations about which we can do something.
EXERCISE:
What choices are you currently making in your professional and personal life? Where would greater acceptance of your responsibility to change for the better make the biggest difference?