Be an adult by taking responsibility
Integrity is a valuable trait. It shows you are more concerned with the well-being of others than with your own ego. Making excuses and shifting blame onto others are tactics that many use to protect their own reputation. However, people catch onto these defense mechanisms quickly and leaving more damage to your reputation in the long run than you could gain by just taking responsibility.
Your life is in your own hands. Your parents can guide you along the way, your friends can lend you a helping hand, but ultimately the decision to be successful is in your own hands. You are responsible for everything you say and everything you do.
Taking Responsibility is Living with Integrity. It’s More Rewarding than Being Famous or Wealthy; Nobody Can Take it Away from You
Taking responsibility is the key for a happy relationship.
Decide to be humble in your successes and acknowledge your mistakes. Be the one that sets an example for how others should live their lives.
Don’t Talk About it, Be About it
A life worth living is the one where we don’t make excuses for our shortcomings. We must understand that we are who we are. Once you acknowledge and accept yourself for both your strengths and flaws, you can talk less and do more. Many of us are predisposed to talking ourselves up or bragging about our past accomplishments. Doing so is setting yourself up for failure, as it creates a false expectation that you possibly can’t live up to.
Some things require no words. Be happy with your past accomplishments, but don’t mention them to people. Your self-worth comes from who you are at the present moment. All the things you’ve done in the past were just building blocks to get to this point.
Making Excuses is a One-Way Path to Nowhere
Those who make excuses are always miserable because their lives are mediocre. Those who don’t take responsibility tend to be more depressed because they feel stuck at the bottom. Every time a new challenge is thrown in their way, they find a new excuse. Those who are well-practiced at making excuses can often come up with an excuse for any situation.
Taking Responsibility Means Understanding that We Are the Reason We Succeed or Fail
At school, you are learning for yourself. At work, you are making a living for yourself. Your hobbies; you do them for your own enjoyment. The world is a beautiful place because there are other people to share our experiences with. But never forget that you are living for yourself. Your decisions and nobody else’s will decide the outcome. Our lives are as good or as bad as we make them to be. Choose the path of positivity and leave the blame game to children.
Your Mistakes are Your Fault, Nobody Else’s
As soon as you’re old enough to make your own decisions, there is nobody else to blame but yourself. If your friend persuades you to ride in the driver’s seat without wearing a seatbelt, you are the one making that decision. If your friend gets into an accident and you get hurt, your friend may be liable but more cases than not you are the one at fault. Caving in to peer pressure was the mistake you made and getting hurt was a result of your poor choices.
Furthermore, if you are a teenager living with obesity: It’s not your parent’s fault for feeding you too much. As long as you knew that eating too much causes weight gain, the blame can only fall on you. Stop making excuses and take responsibility. You will feel empowered and people will respect you.
Other’s Mistakes are Their Own Problem; Don’t Remind Them
Even if something is someone else’s fault, it never helps to point it out. People don’t like being blamed. All you are doing is rubbing it in. Even if they do the same to you, allow them to save face from now on and don’t bring it up. If you accept responsibility for your mistakes and ignore others’ mistakes, people will notice and respect you. Making people self-conscious about their shortcomings is the worst way to live life. You will make them feel bad for a moment, but you are the one taking the biggest hit from your insensitive comments. Because after you make them feel worthless, they will associate those bad memories with you.
Choose to be a person of high self-worth and praise others for what they did right instead of criticizing them for what they did wrong. Best case scenario is that they will return the courtesy and stop blaming you for things. There is no worst case scenario. You are living with integrity now, which matters; everything else is just a bonus.
Respect is Earned, Not Given
Making the right choice is not always the popular choice. But if you stand by your morals regardless of what anyone else says, you will earn respect. Going out of your way to dodge blame is a cowardly choice. Taking responsibility for your mistakes will bring negative consequences, but the consequences of not doing so are far greater.
Pretend you get pulled over by a policeman after running a red light. What is your first instinct, to apologize or explain your reasoning behind the maneuver? If the latter, there is a high likelihood that what would come out of your mouth is an excuse for why you broke the law. The correct decision is to fess up to your crime, and keep the excuses to yourself. Even if the cop is wrong and you are right, arguing will hardly bring any good. You are only increasing the likelihood that you will pay an exorbitant fine. By trying to settle the things the more polite way, you are saving each other’s time. They will most likely appreciate that, and just let you off with a warning. Now picture that scenario but with someone of less authority than a policeman. Why should your integrity change if that person is not wearing a badge? Respect others, take the blame when it’s yours to take, and life will shine on you.
