The Act Of Being Responsible

By Ovie Adjekuko (13-years-old)

WHAT IS RESPONSIBILITY?

Responsibility is the obligation to carry forward an assigned task to a successful conclusion.

It is also a duty to deal with or take care of somebody or something, so that the person may be blamed if something goes wrong.

Responsibility is a problem we face in our day to day life.
Accepting responsibility has two basic components, let us discuss the first; accepting personal responsibility which can also be referred to as direct responsibility is taking ownership of your own behavior or actions.

Until you accept responsibility for your actions, either good or bad, you can never get the respect of people.

When you accept your responsibility, you earn the trust and respect of people around you and the society at large.

We all make mistakes (both young and old) and poor choices as well. But it is the ability to own up that brings out the genius in us, which gives respect in the long run.

You must understand one thing in life, you are not the first to make mistakes neither will you be the last. Mistakes are common phenomenon of life, it is the ability to own up, dust the sand and continue again that matters.

We can never run away from responsibilities. Accepting personal responsibility will bring you to a height that only you can attain through the trust and respect of people.

The second component in accepting responsibility is indirect responsibility, this involves moving beyond you as a person and taking actions to help people or situations around you that call for assistance. While this component may not rise to the next level of personal or direct responsibility is that it reveals something about your character or quality.

Clearly, there are many people who will walk by a person who is down in the street or down on his luck due to some kind of problems. However, there are those who will quickly stop to help.

It is not hard to determine which of these two component is the most appropriate choice.

The real difference between responsibility and irresponsibility is indicated on how effective we are able to manage our lives when the opportunity to make a choice, whether good or bad arises.

Accepting both personal and indirect responsibility is the most important aspect in defining a person’s true character. When that moment comes, what you do or did not do as a person is an indication of your true quality.

Failing to accept personal responsibility may work to your advantage in some point of your life. For example, you might get away with not talking about something you have done wrong or even put the blame on someone else but you know very well that it is your misdeeds or in- actions, you might not face the consequences for your wrong at that time but know it that your mistakes will eventually catch up with you and it will definitely cause you pain that will affect you later in life.

It would have been best for you to own up and honestly say ‘I DID IT’, when you blame others for your misdeeds, you give up your power to change.

While growing up, I always ran away from responsibilities which made people loose their trust in me. When I noticed it that nobody trusted me, I had to take a bold step and start accepting my responsibilities whenever I do wrong in order to gain back people’s trust.

Accepting responsibility will help the younger generation become responsible since they grow to see the elders owing to their responsibilities.

To be responsible, one must learn to accept the task set before him or her in honesty.

So, remember running away from responsibility takes you farther from your goals and aspirations. You must accept your actions, man up to face the consequences because, you committed them.