We have all found ourselves at one moment or another is a situation that was less than ideal. And the reality is most times we have put ourselves there. Oops!! Now our initial knee jerk reaction, it to find an outside source or person to justify why we are in this position. However, in most instances, we have wound up there because of our own hand. One major key to life is being willing to take responsibility for your mistakes or problems. It takes an act of courage to own your situation.
Now as uncomfortable as your situation may be, accepting responsibility for your problems is the first step in solving them. You may be able to blame others for your unhappiness; however no one is ever responsible for your unhappiness, but you. You always have a choice of how you react to things, or how you measure your experience to situations. And the more we choose to accept responsibility in our lives, the good and the bad, the more power we will exercise in our lives.
Accepting responsibility in your life can help you grow. Now unless I missed the memo, non of us are perfect. We all make mistakes, but learning to admit your mistakes builds character. Furthermore, accepting that mistake without shame is success. Learning to apologize to a person we may have wronged or removing ourselves from a toxic situation.
If you are constantly beating yourself up for the mistakes you have made, it will eventually have an impact on your mental health. Taking ownership of our problems/mistakes has the ability to lift that 500lb weight off our shoulders. I’m sure you have heard the term “chip on your shoulder.” This term does not come with any positive connotations. So, let go of all that stuff weighing you down.
Taking responsibility for your actions helps you become a better friend. When you learn to own up to mistakes and make amends, it leads towards building stronger connections with people and deeper friendships.
In conclusion, taking responsibility for our actions, even if they were wrong, is a crucial part of being an adult. If you are constantly running away from things, or saying “it’s not my fault” you will find yourself on your own island of denial. And that can be a very lonely place. Accepting what is will give you peace of mind and people will respect you for owning up to the choices you have made.
To err is human. But so is rebounding from our mistakes.
Michael Hyatt