The most empowering decision you can make in your life is accepting responsibility. When I was a midshipman at the Naval Academy learning to be an officer, we learned a lot about the triangle of responsibility, authority, and accountability as the essence of leadership, mainly in a classroom. However, it became real and personal in the hall where we lived, and the upperclassmen trained us. As plebes, freshmen, we learned that there are five basic responses to every question; yes Sir, no Sir, aye-aye Sir, I’ll find out Sir, and no excuse Sir. There was no room for pointing fingers; you took responsibility for all you knew and did or failed to know and do. You didn’t bilge a classmate, what we called throwing a classmate under the bus in the Academy slang. You didn’t make excuses because you learned that all your command did or failed to do was your responsibility. I grew up that way, so it wasn’t a huge change, but those responses stuck.
Your life is your responsibility. Our society has lost this truth. Some people want to blame society, politics, or the founding fathers for whatever is wrong in their lives or their mistakes. To that, I say get a helmet! Life is a personal responsibility. We are all responsible for our own lives once we are old enough to make decisions. That we can shape our lives makes America awesome! God gave us the tools, not a government. We just have to accept responsibility and move out. Do you realize how bulletproof that makes you? Pretty damn bulletproof. You get to choose your religion, choose whom you will marry, choose what job and career you will pursue, choose where you will live, and if you don’t like it, you can move. You get to choose how many kids you will have; you get to choose who you will be and how much you will achieve because you accept responsibility for your life and all that is in it! If you get knocked down, you can get back up, and if you fall short, you can try again.
Only you can stop you!
You are indomitable with that decision and the congruity of your beliefs and actions!
