It was one thing...ONE tiny little thing God opened my eyes to see.
I still have miiiiles to go. Miles!
But..I'm learning...little by little, situation by situation..and it is so FREEING.
It feels so good! ...and I want to share and encourage you.
I'm talking about taking responsibility.
Something not many of us do in this day and age...or any age for that matter.
It started long before the "everyone-gets-a-trophy" kids came along...we can't blame them.
Someone raised those trophy kids, right?
...and someone raised the trophy kids parents. and those before them. and those before them!
It actually started in the very beginning! Read
here ...you'll see.
{Adam blamed Eve, Eve blamed the Devil..etc.}
We don't like to take responsibility! It's not in our nature and it's not fun.
We like to pass the blame..it's easier that way.
If we pass the blame..we don't have to do the hard work!!! Right?
Well....sort of.
Ignoring responsibility can feel like we may have gotten away with something,
but it always has a way of catching up to us. Always.
Go ahead..try ignoring your electric bill.
You won't be in trouble for a couple of months...but when it does catch up with you,
not only do you have back payments..but also late fees and a bad history with ComEd.
{or whatever company you're with...}
When we blame {and then complain} our vision becomes impaired.
Once our vision is impaired we can't see who is who and what is what...
...we don't realize how upside down and backwards we see things.
It's at this point Satan walks in..and we hold out our arms and
let him wrap victim chains around our wrists and lock us down while crying out...
"Look what's happening to meeeeee!"
It's one of his favorite things to do...make us feel like everything is happening to us.
He loves to make us feel like we don't have a choice in the matter..it's not our fault!
It's never our fault.
...and there we sit. Stuck! Stuck by our own free will. Our own blinded choices.
It really is a miserable place to be.
Life doesn't always go as planned..wait, let me rephrase that...
Life NEVER goes as planned! Bad things are going to happen.
You can count on it. Welcome to the world.
We have no control over the things other people do.the way they feel.or what they say.
We DO however have control over the way we feel.what we do. and what we say.
In both small and big things.
Once something is placed in our lap...it is OUR responsibility to handle it...the right way.
I can't tell you enough, the weight that is lifted when you take responsibility.
You will feel better and your relationships will improve by one million percent!
What does taking responsibility look like?
1. Stop complaining. Stop. Stop. STOOOOP!!!
I know, I know..it's hard to do...but we have to break this habit.
It only brings us down and gives us a gloomy outlook.
2. Stop making excuses. My husband is great at calling me out on this one.
Not in a mean way...but in a truthful way...of course the man is often correct..
{eye roll..all the way into my brain}
We don't realize how many of our "reasons" are really just plain old excuses.
3. Listen to what others are saying.
If multiple people are telling you the same thing about yourself..it's probably true.
Own it and change! It's not the end of the world. No one will hate you.
In fact...they will like you better! I had to do a lot of listening this past year...
{big gulp..and I'm not talking about the drink size from 7-11}
It hurts our precious ego...but just for a little while.
It gets better...and it gets easier when we let go of pride.
4. Take a good hard look at yourself.
It's hard. It's really hard to be honest with ourselves..it's embarrassing and humiliating.
But...when we're at the bottom..it's the only way to get back up.
Why? Becaaaaause..ultimately we are responsible for fixing ourselves!
5. It's you and you alone!
Unless you're an infant..which you are not if you're reading this...you and you alone
are responsible for yourself. Did you read the part about You?
You are in charge of your healing. your happiness. your relationships. your LIFE!!!
Phew! Anyone else tired of reading yet?
...let's wrap this thing up.
God equips us and is there for us in every single situation life throws our way.
He does not ever leave us out to dry. He promises to walk with us through it all.
However...we have to step up and ask for His help.
He doesn't baby us and let us off scot-free!
He will give us what we need to take the responsibility that is ours.
WE have to do the hard work!!! HE give us the strength to do it.
Now don't be a victim and go find someway to take responsibility! ;)
XxOo
