"We must reject the idea that every time a law's
broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to
restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his
actions." Ronald Reagan
Personal responsibility. There's a concept from the past.
The tragedies of this month have again brought out the question, who is to blame?
Who is to blame for the bad things happening in this country? Is it the parent's fault? Is it the school's fault? Is it the fault of the NRA and the legality of assault rifles? Is it the fault of the makers of violent video games? Is it the fault of the doctors and professionals in the field of mental illness? Is it the fault of vaccines and the possibility of their relationship to autism? Is it the fault of neighbors and friends not seeing the signs of trouble? Is it the fault of the high divorce rate and the crumbling of marriage in the US? Is it God's fault? Is it the church's fault?
Taking personal responsibility has, for the most part, disappeared.
We want to blame the NRA for lobbying to keep guns available for legal purchase.
We want to blame McDonalds for the rise in obesity in the US. I don't know about you, but in order for me to eat McDonalds fries I have to go there and get them and then put them in my mouth and eat them. Nobody has a gun to my head.
We want the government to take care of our birth control for us, so we don't have to worry about our sexual promiscuity.
We want government to take responsibility for the raising, education and feeding of our children.
We want our health care paid by the government while we continue to overeat, under-exercise, smoke, drink and use recreational drugs.
We want to retire comfortably without saving money during our working years and preparing for the future.
We want to give the responsibility for all these things, and more, to an institution that has proven itself to be very bad at managing anything and especially bad at managing money. Why oh why to we continue to look to the government to take care of us. They have showed us who they are. We need to stop begging for them to do a better job. It can't be done.
Personal responsibility. If you need to depend on someone to help you with a problem area in your life, look for a mentor. You can find mentors in your life through older family members or friends, neighbors, spiritual leaders, community leaders, the networks of your friends and colleagues. People like to be asked for help, but they don't want to do it for you. Don't depend on these mentors to do your work for you. Take personal responsibility for yourself.
We need to grow up in this country. Life is hard, but we aren't in it alone. God knew life would be hard, so he sent his son to reconcile us to him. He gave us prayer, an opportunity to speak with him. He gave us church, an opportunity to join with fellow believers for support and fellowship in this tough, tough life on Earth. I pray for churches to be filled during this holiday season and for people to return to the roots of faith this country was built upon. We don't need to look any further than the bathroom mirror to discover where change needs to begin. Let's decide we want to do better for ourselves, not have more done for us.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
768. Last day of work before my Christmas break
769. Red velvet donuts from Dunkin Donuts
770. New carpet day in the rental house renovation
771. Enjoying the final couple weeks of my son living with me
772. Reading books for pleasure
773. Reading blogs for pleasure
774. Watching movies in the morning
775. Going to a 9:00 p.m. showing of Lincoln and knowing I don't have to get up for work in the morning
776. Listening of off-key Christmas carol covers :)
777. Thinking about the peace of Christmastime and getting all my work done so I can enjoy it
778. Organic lettuce and baby greens salads
779. Vodka made from potatoes
780. Advent services at church
781. Thinking about hanging ornaments on the tree, but ok with knowing it may not happen
782. Three hours of administrative leave on the last day of work in 2012
Personal responsibility. There's a concept from the past.
The tragedies of this month have again brought out the question, who is to blame?
Who is to blame for the bad things happening in this country? Is it the parent's fault? Is it the school's fault? Is it the fault of the NRA and the legality of assault rifles? Is it the fault of the makers of violent video games? Is it the fault of the doctors and professionals in the field of mental illness? Is it the fault of vaccines and the possibility of their relationship to autism? Is it the fault of neighbors and friends not seeing the signs of trouble? Is it the fault of the high divorce rate and the crumbling of marriage in the US? Is it God's fault? Is it the church's fault?
Taking personal responsibility has, for the most part, disappeared.
We want to blame the NRA for lobbying to keep guns available for legal purchase.
We want to blame McDonalds for the rise in obesity in the US. I don't know about you, but in order for me to eat McDonalds fries I have to go there and get them and then put them in my mouth and eat them. Nobody has a gun to my head.
We want the government to take care of our birth control for us, so we don't have to worry about our sexual promiscuity.
We want government to take responsibility for the raising, education and feeding of our children.
We want our health care paid by the government while we continue to overeat, under-exercise, smoke, drink and use recreational drugs.
We want to retire comfortably without saving money during our working years and preparing for the future.
We want to give the responsibility for all these things, and more, to an institution that has proven itself to be very bad at managing anything and especially bad at managing money. Why oh why to we continue to look to the government to take care of us. They have showed us who they are. We need to stop begging for them to do a better job. It can't be done.
Personal responsibility. If you need to depend on someone to help you with a problem area in your life, look for a mentor. You can find mentors in your life through older family members or friends, neighbors, spiritual leaders, community leaders, the networks of your friends and colleagues. People like to be asked for help, but they don't want to do it for you. Don't depend on these mentors to do your work for you. Take personal responsibility for yourself.
We need to grow up in this country. Life is hard, but we aren't in it alone. God knew life would be hard, so he sent his son to reconcile us to him. He gave us prayer, an opportunity to speak with him. He gave us church, an opportunity to join with fellow believers for support and fellowship in this tough, tough life on Earth. I pray for churches to be filled during this holiday season and for people to return to the roots of faith this country was built upon. We don't need to look any further than the bathroom mirror to discover where change needs to begin. Let's decide we want to do better for ourselves, not have more done for us.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
768. Last day of work before my Christmas break
769. Red velvet donuts from Dunkin Donuts
770. New carpet day in the rental house renovation
771. Enjoying the final couple weeks of my son living with me
772. Reading books for pleasure
773. Reading blogs for pleasure
774. Watching movies in the morning
775. Going to a 9:00 p.m. showing of Lincoln and knowing I don't have to get up for work in the morning
776. Listening of off-key Christmas carol covers :)
777. Thinking about the peace of Christmastime and getting all my work done so I can enjoy it
778. Organic lettuce and baby greens salads
779. Vodka made from potatoes
780. Advent services at church
781. Thinking about hanging ornaments on the tree, but ok with knowing it may not happen
782. Three hours of administrative leave on the last day of work in 2012
I want the government to clean my house, but you're right: they can't even do all the rest of that stuff you listed. :) Merry Christmas, Friend. Lots and lots of love to you!
ReplyDeletei def agree we need greater personal responsibility/accountability on many fronts...i think we need it in social programming such as welfare, i think we need it in government and i def think we need it in the realm of firearms...as originally stated it was as part of a well regulated militia but the court has ruled that is no longer the case as the responsibility to well regulated...so what does personal responsibility mean in that regard...perhaps stiffer punishments for the use of a firearm illegally or the commision of a crime using your firearm...which would cover those who leave access open to their firearms to be used by another...i dunno the answer, but i def think we need personal responsibility and accountability on multiple levels...
ReplyDeletemerry christmas...i hope you and yours have a great holiday.
take responsibility for my own actions? How novel. Preach it sister! Have a merry and blessed Christmas.
ReplyDeleteExcellent! I wrote some similar things in my Newtown post. It's so aggravating to see society become so lazy and irresponsible. People don't realize we are headed back into bondage by choosing to let the gov't take care of us. It's seems only more suffering will be needed to make people see the light. :-(
ReplyDeleteMy sons 7th grade health essay was to answer the question, "who is responsible for an obese child?"...
ReplyDeleteexcellent, excellent! So great. I wish everyone could read this. Post this on your fb or G+, whatever social media you use. You nailed it so well. Why don't people get this?!?!?
ReplyDelete