responsibility

give a little, take a little.

People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
-Mother Teresa

*Photo by Ashley Mead at Sangha Yoga Shala in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Have you ever felt like you are overloaded with so many responsibilities that your brain turns into a sloppy pile of mush, and you feel like crawling into a cave to hide from them all? On the other hand, have you ever felt like you haven’t taken responsibility seriously for something in your life that may have crept up on you unexpectedly, often serving as a harsh reminder of where your attention would be best directed?

We’ve probably all experienced one side of this spectrum, but it is possible to find a happy medium. Even if the middle ground doesn’t last forever or doesn’t feel clear right now, remember that the balance is within you, and it is 100% attainable if you allow yourself to truly believe in that possibility.

So where do we start? In my opinion, it is imperative to take responsibility for your Self in ways that benefit your life. Surround yourself with people and things you love, pay attention to the lifestyle choices that suit your needs and take appropriate action to relieve yourself of the choices/people that don’t.

Sometimes, though, we can get a little over-enthusiastic about our responsibilities and begin to tighten our grip on being in total control of every situation. This is the moment when, if we pay attention, we can remind ourselves to let go of the ways that don’t benefit us – for example by being overly responsible for ourselves or someone else’s wellbeing.

What I sometimes forget is that we are allowed to ask for help, whether from a trustworthy human or a higher power. What’s the worst that can happen? If your heart is geared toward achieving something that requires you to relinquish some responsibility in order to attain it, the universe will provide the guidance and support. Ask and you shall receive, if you believe it is possible.

After all, there’s only so much we can do – we don’t have to be in control of and 100% responsible for every nook and cranny of our lives. We can let some of it go and trust it in the hands of a higher source.

I understand this is a fine line of paradoxes, one that I am continually working on myself – when do I accept the responsibilities and when do I release them? I have found that the more mindful we are in the ongoing experiment of life, we can begin to more easily notice when something isn’t working, which is usually when it’s time to seek guidance or move on.

As Mother Teresa explains in the thoughtful quote above – give the world your best regardless of whether you feel it is ever “enough.” Only you can decide what “enough” is, when to accept responsibility for your Self and when to relieve your Self of anything that doesn’t serve you in your current life experiment.

How do you not only take responsibility for your Self but also give yourself permission to let some of that control float elsewhere?

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