Responsibility is one of those words that makes your shoulders sag.

It feels heavy. It’s onerous. If you accept responsibility there’s an underlying sense that it’s a burden, something you have to carry.

But when it comes to taking responsibility for your LIFE, this actually isn’t the case.

When you actively take responsibility for your life it empowers you.

Let’s rewind a bit.

There are so many people who feel as if life is passing them by in a blur, and yet if you suggest things they can do about it, they’re not interested. They’d rather sit around and point the finger of blame for why their life isn’t better… at circumstances, people, events that have happened to them… it can’t be their fault.

Um… about that.

Time for a bit of tough love.

All those things are excuses.

Ouch.

You are responsible for the way your life is.

No-one else. You.

This is something I have to remind myself of on a regular basis. Usually when I’ve had a good old whinge and I’m feeling sorry for myself.

I know what you’re thinking… what about things we have no control over like health problems, losing your job, having to care for an elderly relative, an accident that wasn’t your fault… how CAN we be responsible?

Well, you may not have control over what happens to you, but you DO have control over how you RESPOND to what happens to you. (A mentor of mine calls this response-ability which sums it up perfectly!)

You always have the power to choose to make the best of a bad situation.

Choosing to blame external influences for the state of your life is you choosing to abdicate responsibility.

You’re choosing to accept the crap that life has thrown at you and tolerate the way things are even though you’re not happy about it. 

If that hits hard and makes you bristle, that’s ok.

If you’re angrily denying it, that’s ok too.

Hear me out.

If you’ve never realised that you are ABLE to take that responsibility, and you don’t know HOW to take that responsibility, you’re bound to get angry because no-one likes feeling like a fool.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve blamed all manner of things for the state of my own life. But let me tell you this… when I have stepped up to the plate, taken responsibility and yelled, “ENOUGH!”… things have changed.

When you take responsibility, suddenly YOU are in charge.

Suddenly, opportunities present themselves because you’re actively looking for them.

Suddenly all the energy you were focussing on blame is redirected to your creativity, and you come up with ideas for how you can engineer change.

Taking responsibility for your life opens the door to freedom because you’re no longer beholden to anyone else and you’re not hanging around waiting for someone else to make things better. No white knights on horseback to see here because they’re not needed.

You don’t need anyone’s permission to take responsibility. It’s already yours for the taking.

Tune in to your potential instead of accepting the confines of the life you have.

Have FUN with it!

Be brave and grab that responsibility with both hands. You’ll be glad you did.