Happy Birthday Piper!

Piper is 2-years-old today. We love this silly, goofy, naughty Great Dane! Her breeder has new puppies and we are going to Florida in March...

Personal Responsiblity

Something that has always been important to me is personal responsiblity. Just to be sure I thought Iknew what Iwas talked about, I turned to Google.com and put the term in. I expected to find thousands of responses. I got just 10 back. Apparently it is not the issue I thought it to be.

One website I looked at said this "Taking personal responsibility means you acknowledge and accept that you are answerable for the outcome of your life. Life always gives you the consequences related to your actions or inaction. Being responsible indicates that you accept accountability and are in control" (about-personal-growth.com, para. 1). Hmmm.....

I try to take responsiblity for all of my actions. I cannot take responsiblity for those that I am not aware of, like if my words or actions wound someone. I rely on that person to bring this to my attention. In those cases, I can then take responsiblity for my actions with an apology, a change, or an ammend. I do use a very direct communication style, expecting those with whom I communication to talk back to me, ask questions and to respond to my words. Again, without that give and take, I cannot take responsbility for my words...but I would given the opportunity.

Because I feel strongly about personal responsibilty, I get very impatient with people who do not take responsiblity for their actions. I deal with this in many areas of my life. Some of my students do not like to take responsiblity for their actions. Instead of simply saying they forgot to do an assignment (or turn it in or whatever) they feel as though they must create gigantic sagas for what they missed and why they do not deserve to have any consequences for their actions. Ok. I can be a bit forgiving on this. After all, they are learning.

The ones that I get most impatient with are my comtemporaries who cannot seem to take responsiblity for their actions. These are mature adults who feel perfectly justified in stealing something from others by saying "it's what I was owed". Mature adults who will lie and implicate other people to protect themselves from the consequences of their own actions. Those are the people that will throw their "friends" under the bus to protect themselves. These are people that I do not have the time for in my life.

Imagine a world in which people took responsiblity for their actions...what if they said, "you're right, I do owe you that money." Or, "I'm sorry I lied to you about that." Or, my favorite and seemingly the simplest, "I'm sorry I hurt you."

Wouldn't we all be happier and calmer?


Reference
About-Personal-Growth.com (2009). Are you mature enough to accept responsiblity for how your life turned out? Retrieved January 18, 2009 from http://www.about-personal-growth.com/personal-responsibility.html

Winter Sun

Spots in which to sun yourself during the winter are difficult to find. My little Piper seems to be the master at finding the sunniest spot in the house. This was her this morning. Note...the temperature was -12 F and there is alot of snow out there!

Is this as good as it gets?

Happy New Year to everyone. Over the years I have found there are a couple of days each year that I am more pensive. Today is one of them. It's a point at which we naturally pause, look back and decide where to go from there.

We are lucky. We had a very good year. We are both healthy and my cancer is in remission. Our family members are healthy as well. We lost no one close to us this year either. Our mutts think we are the best humans on the entire planet. We are fortunate to be working in recession-proof fields and do not have to worry about layoffs or unemployment. We have plenty of everything we need and many things we don't.

Is this as good as it gets?

Maybe...in fact, for me it is. We are comfortable and blessed. Certainly there are ways in which I can be a better human. Practicing more compassion for those around me and approaching situations more gently would be a welcomed change. Fortunately people (me) are able to change and grow at every age.

And into 2009, I plan no resolutions. They are just ways in which we set ourselves up to fail and feel bad. Regrets? Just a couple and they are staying in 2008. There is no reason to carry them on into the new year.

May 2009 offer the best to you and your loved ones. Happy New Year.