Take Responsibility No Matter What
Mark Manson made a comment in his book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck, that we may not have caused everything that happens in our lives, but we ought to assume the position of taking responsibility for everything that happens to us. In other words, it may or may not be your fault that certain things happen in your life. But it is absolutely your responsibility to respond and react to those things. Manson calls this the responsibility/fault fallacy.
Check out his article: https://markmanson.net/responsibility-fault-fallacy
There are a lot of things that we don’t cause but still happen to us.
- An accident may happen without our causing it. Whether it’s good or bad.
- A natural disaster happens all the time. Was it my fault that a lightning struck the tree next to my car and the branch fell on the roof of the car?
- I was born as a child of my biological parents. Did I ever give my consent to them before my birth? Was it my choice to be even born?
But, all these incidents still do not excuse me from being responsible.
- I still need to deal with the accident that happened to my life. Whether it was good or bad.
- I still need to fix the roof of my car.
- I still need to live my life every day.
We may not have caused these things to happen. But we are 100% responsible for everything that happens in our lives.
I am not in any way downplaying the tragedy of victimhood. Neither am I saying that we should just suck it up because life is a b!tc$. Whether it was fair (just) or unfair (unjust) that these things happen to you is to be discussed for the later time. Whether you deserved it or not, the point Manson is trying to make is that you still have to deal with the stuff in your life.
How to take responsibility
Taking responsibility means making a choice. And when we claim that locus of control by choosing to deal with the situation, we can persevere and even find meaning behind the suffering we endure.
Choose to be responsible for everything in your life.
