Taking responsibility for the things you have control of in your life can bring immense rewards, the most important of which is that you will move away from feeling like you are a victim in areas or situations in your life. When we feel that our lives are mainly subject to forces outside of our control we feel like victims. A similar mindset allows us to blame these outside forces, or even other people, when things don’t go our way.
Outside forces and people will have their influence over us at times, when it rains and we are standing outside we will get wet, but the degree to which we stand there is the degree to which we get wet. At all times we can decide to take acton to improve things or we can decide to view a situation in a positive light and look for the opportunities. This boils down to taking responsibility for what we do, what we say and most importantly what we think. We cannot control everything but we can control how we respond to the events and situations in our lives.
A word of warning however, do not mistake taking responsibility for blaming yourself. If you made a mistake it can be easy to beat yourself up about it. Whatever we do it will never be perfect. Our lives will always be a work in progress. Embrace this and treat life as a great adventure with every mistake being an opportunity to learn and every challenge an opportunity to either succeed or learn how to.
This is taking responsibility for your life, the fruit of which will be a greater feeling of control in your life and greater opportunities. You will be able to see more opportunities, because you will be looking for them and others will see that you take responsibility, that you are accountable for your actions, and they will give you opportunities. The greatest payoff however will be that you will be happier while you have more control over your life, because you have control of yourself. This is the most important mastery you can achieve.
The Fullfilment Project 