A deep feeling of gratitude can emerge, as we open to the experience of being helped. ~ Madison Taylor
Throughout life, you have chosen to chart your own course, to always shoulder your share of the load and to efficiently manage all that comes your way. You have been taught that being independent and responsible is a virtuous and valuable way to live.
Taking responsibility is a journey that starts with waking up to what is true about your life, determining where you are on the path from victimhood to empowerment and taking action to move toward personal power and complete wholeness. The steps to responsibility include the need to:
- reclaim your forgotten need to take personal responsibility for the events of your life,
- be assertive about your actions and communications for the right reasons
- learn how to set healthy boundaries,
- heal the needy, wounded inner child within you, and
- set goals to achieve what you want.
It is never a perfect completion but an ongoing process of healing, growing and owning up to your part in your life experiences.
The Link Between Taking Personal Responsibility and Relying On Others
While being 100% responsible for your life is a profound source of growth and personal wellbeing, it does not mean you are prohibited from reaching out and depending on others for support. On the contrary, allowing someone to help you or asking for assistance can be part of making a responsible choice in your life. It opens you up to allowing your vulnerability and needs to be a part of relationships and generates a meaningful and deep connection with others.
Accepting assistance from others can show you how you to be an effective servant when you are needed to serve others. It opens the door to receiving kindness and shows us how to give it in return.
It is possible to walk the road between accepting 100% responsibility for our lives, our finances, our relationships, our health, personal growth and wellbeing and knowing when it is necessary to choose to surrender our vulnerability and neediness with wisdom and strength. Reaching out grows empathy and compassion within us and it leaves us with a deeper sense of our own interdependence and interconnectedness to all humanity. You learn to surrender to the surprising truth that you can be fully accountable for your actions in life and you can choose to lean on others for support. Both are possible!
In these times of isolation, fear and vulnerability, an illness or injury can be the catalyst that encourages you to let go of your rigid self-sufficiency and accept help from others. In the balance between 100% responsibility and complete dependence lies interdependence and reliance on others. It is a place where acceptance, humility and gratitude can grow. In receiving support from another, you experience a sense of being loved and cared about. It is love at this level of kindness and regard that can heal a soul.
