What Does it Mean to be Responsible to Oneself?

In my last blog entry, I wrote about what it means to be responsible as an accountable member of society.  In that vein, breaking down the word "responsibility" we find, "able to respond."  To have responsibilities, to take responsibility, to not want responsibility, to act responsibly, to deny responsibility, to undermine responsibility.  All of these variations on, "responsibility," and many more, imply to me a claiming or rejecting of power in some form in our relationships to others in our lives.

My intention when starting this blog, however, was to examine the lesser considered aspect of responsibility, which entails one's responsibility to the self.  Rarely in the general use of this word, is it used in regard to our relationship to ourselves alone.  The very idea seems to many to suggest, "selfishness."  

We as individuals have been convinced/programmed/required to abdicate this particular responsibility to others, whether it be to, "authorities," such as the government, the educational system, the medical establishment, or social factors, such as the religious establishments, our parents/relatives/family, as well as other considerations having to do with our ethnic and/or cultural backgrounds.  Not to be left out is that powerful factor, what others--friends/neighbors, etc.--think.

To go against what is expected of us, by taking responsibility for ourselves, is not easy to do.  This also applies to being different from how others expect us to be.

Why is it not easy?  Everyone knows why it is not easy!  The consequences of, "questioning authority," or "being different," will get you branded as "strange," "weird," "a black sheep," "a troublemaker," a "rebel," etc, etc., and ostracized from your group/family/friends, etc., etc.

From our earliest years it is impressed upon us, verbally and non-verbally, that to stay out of trouble, it is important in life to, "do and believe what you are told," by authority figures.  In the earliest years, it is your parents and social/cultural leaders, followed by teachers and those who represent and enforce society's laws.  Almost everyone is surrounded all their lives by other people who tell you what is possible, is fact, is attainable, will keep you out of trouble, will allow you to fit in, will allow you to get ahead, and, most importantly, will get you loved. 

My intention in this blog has been to convince you to take responsibility for yourself, your health, your experiences, your attitudes, your beliefs--your life.  (You are, of course, in addition responsible for those things and people you have chosen to be responsible for, depending on your not infringing on their right to be responsible for themselves, according to their age and true need and ability to be responsible for themselves.)

I am not suggesting that taking responsibility for oneself in any of, let alone all, these areas, will be easy, but I am happy to report that, it seems, more and more people are taking small steps in this direction.  Above all, it requires one to claim the right to make decisions regarding how one lives one's life.  This is dependent upon claiming our own personal power, and letting go of our need for the approval of others, and, if need be, their conditional love.

With that challenge, I end this blog.

Shirley Gallup