The question of responsibility is not the easiest one. When I was a child, parents tried to explain to me the notion of responsibility, its significance, and ways of application. Understanding of the idea was quite difficult because I did not have enough experience to link this abstract term with world around me. Although they illustrated the responsible behavior with real life examples, the comprehension of responsibility came only after facing the problems that I had to solve by myself.
For me, responsibility is the process of understanding my experience, thoughts, positions, resources, decisions, and consequences of any choice taken. To be a responsible human being means, for one thing, to be aware of outcomes of my actions and also have the ability to link processes of reality with the recent situation in the community, society, economy, or politics and see my individual contribution to them, even though there is no direct connection.
My friends often say: “Why has that happened to me?” Frequently, I ask this question to placate myself but not to uncover the truth. Though, the response is hidden inside of the inquiry and implies that this is the outcome of my actions, and I should take responsibility for it. The ability to assess desires, decisions, actions driven by them and results of these actions is an integral part of being a responsible individual.
Once I faced a challenging situation when I had to choose what to do: keep my job at that time or travel for a while. These two options ruled out each other. I could not have managed to do both by any means. It would have been way easier if my parents had chosen for me. They said that I had to take a decision by myself contemplating all possible outcomes. The lesson I learned from the situation is that I was responsible for quitting the job and spending saved money on traveling. Therefore I could not blame my parents for this decision because I was the only person who took it.
Although some conditions do not have any direct connections with my daily life, I feel responsible for them because I think I can contribute to the change of a situation. The environmental changes and growing level of pollution are important issue nowadays. Does the involvement of an individual make a difference? Why should I be responsible? During our everyday life, we use numerous resources and produce a lot of waste. The environmentally conscious approach to this issue demonstrates how starting from the individual level the positive changes can be visible within the community and the society as a whole. I try to be more conscious about water and energy consumption; moreover, I support and practice the idea of recycling.
Another issue I am serious about is health and associated nutrient patterns and sports activities. To be responsible for the health means to be accountable for myself and people around. Living a healthy lifestyle, I am an example and a source of inspiration for my family, friends, and peers. Moreover, my physical well-being affects my academic and professional life, and it is a strong background for the future (Sorensen et al. par. 5).
Responsibility is a way of comprehension of reality as a process of consequences in the various aspects of life. Accountability helps me to build robust relationships within the family, friends, school, and other environments.
Works Cited
Sorensen, Kristine, Stephan Van den Broucke, et al. “Health Literacy and Public Health: A Systematic Review and Integration of Definitions and Models.” BMC Public Health. 12.1 (2012). Web.