The Importance of Personal Responsibility
by Cy
PurityandVerve.com
Do you wish to achieve a higher state of health? The most powerful thing you can do is to recognize that you are the key to getting where you want to be. Responsibility is a principal factor in determining an individual’s success with regards to health along with any other aspirations. We must accept responsibility for how we live our lives, the choices we make, the mistakes of our past and the capacity of our futures regardless of external factors. We are accountable for all of it. Some individuals seem naturally more inclined to accept personal responsibility, while others must work towards it. To not embrace responsibility is to welcome its opposite, victimhood, which renders us powerless to effect change. Here, I will discuss several ways in which humans are sidetracked along with the importance of centering a sense of responsibility in our journey towards greater health.
Diversions to responsibility come in many forms. Tragically, social diseases like racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism and more, exist in the world. They must be acknowledged and deconstructed. However, these -isms breach the need for personal responsibility when we use them as excuses. For instance, I can declare that transphobia must end. It is something completely different to say that because of transphobia, I may no longer accomplish my goals. This is a hugely important distinction. I am not suggesting that working towards betterment is an easy process. There are highs and lows for everyone on this non-linear journey. But to surmise that it is not possible for us to take charge of the direction of our own lives because of the violence someone else projects upon us is failure at it’s most base level, a literal surrendering of our goals and dreams to an external entity. We can acknowledge and sit with our experiences while accepting responsibility for ourselves. To not do so is to let go of our power, our literal life force, the energy that went into our creation and the reason we are here. I, for one, will not resign myself in this way. Racism, sexism, discrimination and more are all real but have nothing (literally nothing!) to do with my ability to achieve vibrant health. It is, in fact, the most degrading thing anyone can tell you; that because you are a particular color, culture, gender, sexuality, religion and/or ability level, you are effectively doomed. No racial slur, no gender slight, no actual violence I’ve witnessed or experienced equates to the egregious damage done by proclaiming a person’s inherent destiny to fail, because of who they are.
Religion and politics are also used to shun personal responsibility. Religious beliefs can disempower us, telling us things are the way they are because God says so, or that we have no power relative to the all-powerful God. I am a believer in God in tandem with my belief in personal responsibility around decisions that impact my life. I don’t consider this a contradiction. God created humans to have agency and free will. The choices we make are of critical importance in respecting our creator and ourselves. Similarly, politics often usurps responsibility from people. Politicians enjoy labeling others as victims, poor, indigent, and oppressed, while offering little wholehearted assistance. Victimhood is touted as currency in the quest to garner votes, while resolutions are seldom, if ever reached. Contrary to what many of us have been taught, coming from a poorer social background is not something that invalidates our power and agency. By the same token, being born into privilege is not a guarantee of effortless success. Financial means aren’t the only assets that matter. We have the power to look at ourselves beyond our monetary value. We have the capacity to embrace our whole selves and everything we are worth and to draw from that immense energy. We will likely discover resources that others could only dream of; things we can use to achieve everything we seek.
The practice of medical doctors telling us what illnesses we have, whether diseases are curable or not, how healthy we can be and how long we have to live is another pandemic in which people are robbed of their sense of responsibility. The health care system and some branches of “alternative” health rake in enormous profits while we remain misguided and sick. If we accept that illness is a result of predisposition or bad luck and that there are no dietary or lifestyle changes we can make to alter the course of history, we have surrendered ourselves to a medical prison, from which few escape. Genetics is another medical concept by which responsibility is dodged. Many readily accept the notion that our parents have a particular pattern of illness and we are, therefore, destined to follow that path. Our family health histories can help us to identify our strengths and weaknesses but they do not determine our future. We can absolutely liberate ourselves from the imbalances in our family line no matter the severity level. The human body is designed to heal itself! Let us take back the power and agency to effect change within ourselves and we will see the brilliant truth! Humans can recover from anything! Anyone who tells us otherwise is taking away our power, lying to to us and making money in the process, which is a raw deal!
Do not fall into these traps which eschew personal responsibility. They are falsehoods, excuses and disconnect us from our path. Worse, they are distractions that take away our agency to act upon our health positively. Let’s get back to our universality as human beings. It’s a truth for us all that we are responsible for ourselves and capable of achieving anything we desire! Reclaiming our role and responsibility in shaping our journey is the most powerful first step anyone can take towards radiant health!