Part 1 of The Tao of Josh - Personal Responsibility

What is Personal Responsibility? To me these words mean taking ownership of ones own actions. I will not expect nor is it anyone else’s duty to take care of me! I will not whine or blame others if things do not go as I plan.

The first responsibility of the individual is to oneself, now this might sound selfish to some, but if you think about it; it’s really not. If you take care of yourself first you’re not a burden on your family, society or anyone else, and you can help others in times of need. Now this doesn’t mean putting yourself first at the expense of others.

Let me give you an order of importance to the responsibilities in your life: your first responsibility is to your self; then family, friends, acquaintances, local community and the world at large.

Now you might be asking why family isn’t first. Let’s say you put your family first and give everything to the family. Say a family member needs some money, so you just go into debt to get the money, because you’re not worried about yourself. Now you get so far in debt that you can’t pay your own bills. You are now a burden to your family.

If you had kept your responsibility to yourself in minded, and said, “How can I help this family member support him self, so we can both prosper?” You would be keeping this principle in mind.

So, if the individual is strong then our families, friends, acquaintances, the local community and the world at large will be strong.

Now there are things that happen that are out of our control. Let’s say, a natural disaster comes along and destroys my house. It’s not everyone responsibility to insure that I get my life back exactly like it was before. It is my responsibility to plan for the future and part of that future is uncertainty and Mother-Nature. It’s my responsibility to ask myself, “What could happen and what should I do if it does?” and plan accordantly.

We can band together to help each other start over, but it’s not mandatory. I do believe in teamwork. You wouldn’t ask a teammate to do something and then stand around doing nothing with your handout? Teams work together to accomplish something for the benefit of the group. If, you do have to except someone’s help don’t fall into the trap of always relying on others. You should try to do things yourself first and if you really can’t do something then ask for help; while still doing what you can yourself. You will be surprised at what you can accomplish on your own. No freeloading, after you recover from what ever you needed help with pay those who helped you back in full; plus a little extra. There should be no free rides.

If you do rely on the government and others to take care of you, you are weakening are society, because you will put-off doing things waiting for someone else to take care of them.

So, if something bad happens pick your self up, dust yourself off and start building your life over. There are no guaranties in life, so plan accordingly.