Responsibility in simple terms, is the ability to respond to life spontaneously. We don’t respond to life spontaneously. We always need a cushion, buffer spring between us and life. As a child you need fairy tales, as a young adult you need fantasies, as a grown up man you need desires. These are acting as buffer springs, shock springs, shock absorbers between you and reality – Life. Meeting, responding, connecting with the life without this shock absorbers is Responsibility.  

There are two ways in which you can respond to life – one is responding to life in a deep, welcoming and accepting way, the other is responding to life with resistance, reservations, judgement and attachment. You can hit the reality either in a beautiful smooth way or in a strong way.

Of course strong landing sometimes takes away your very life. If you look deeply you will realize that most often 99% of the time, you respond to life with resistance/judgement/attachment. This happens because almost all that time, you consider the source of whatever that is happening in your life as something external or outside of you. Whether it is a challenging or conflicting or unpleasant situation, you always consider that the source of the situation lies outside of you. This is why you feel powerless or helpless in most situations of your life. And almost always you blame the others for the situation you are in. Whenever you are making the other responsible for your life, what you are actually doing is giving the control of your life to the other. You are making the other powerful, by making him or her responsible for the whole situation and the irony is that you keep wondering why you are powerless and helpless.

We often relate to responsibility as a burden – something which makes us do more work, puts us under undue pressure or stress. But please understand, that responsibility is actually a great power. Putting the blame on others and responsibility on others creates violence , resistance. Putting the blame on you and responsibility on you creates guilt. Taking the responsibility but not putting the blame on anybody is power. This is what i call – Freedom. It liberates you from the clutches of your own helplessness and from another’s power on you. It leaves you with the power to respond to the life with creativity, intelligence and spontaneity.  Continue reading “Responsibility”