“The ability to accept responsibility is the measure of the man.”

Roy L. Smith

Who is accountable? Ultimately we each are at an individual level. Sometimes it just takes the passage of time for the fog to clear and for us to see that our own actions, or inaction’s, have conspired to create a situation or circumstance.

I have found that the most successful, and the happiest, people in life are those that live with an attitude of exceptional responsibility or ownership. A given situation or circumstance might not cause them to have joy or happiness but they own how they respond to it and do not dwell on what happened to them. Instead they focus on what they can do, and sometimes that is simply to accept what they cannot control.

So how do you do this? How do you live life in this manner? Embrace these questions honestly and with a clear willingness to either admit fault, or take accountability.

• What could, or should, I have done that would have changed the outcome?
• If I had this to do over again what would I do differently?
• Where did I miss something that might have helped me make a better decision?
• What can I learn from this to make better/different decisions in the future?
• How have my actions, or inaction’s, created this situation?
• What lesson is God teaching me? Or perhaps said a different way, what is God preparing me for through this journey?

The bottom line is this. We are all responsible for the actions of our lives. We are responsible for how we treat others. We are responsible for every word that comes out of our mouths and every thought that passes through our minds. To be responsible we must surrender the need to be in absolute control and practice an attitude of learning and accountability. If you can’t do this, your unhappiness is your fault.