Taking Responsibility
for Your Self

by Marie T. Russell

Are you enthusiastic about life? Do you wake up excited to face another day? Are you interested in your work and are you involved in it with intensity, energy, and zeal? Are you doing what you would choose to do were you to make a completely fresh start? Are you committing your time to activities you enjoy?

For one to live a happy and fulfilled life, the answer to these questions needs to be an enthusiastic YES. Otherwise, you are dragging yourself about, performing tasks which don't really interest you.

I have noticed that some days, I wake up early, full of energy and zest. I get up feeling ready to 'take on' the world. On the other hand, there are some mornings where I can't seem to get moving. Now, I am not talking of those mornings when I may be physically tired and need the extra sleep. I speak rather of those mornings when I've had enough hours of rest, yet can't seem to get motivated to 'rise and shine'.

At those times, we need to ask ourselves what it is that we want to escape. "What is it in my life that keeps me from feeling enthusiastic about the upcoming day?" Of course it is easy to lay the blame on someone else. It's so-and-so's fault I'm angry, it's their fault I'm depressed, etc.

Yet when I'm honest with myself, I find that it's always my action (or inaction) that is the source of my lack of energy. Sometimes, it is a conversation that I have been putting off because I fear it for some reason; at other times, there is a situation or person that I don't want to deal with. There is usually something I am trying to avoid, and rather than have to face it, my avoidance is translated into a listless feeling of wanting to stay in bed. Rather than find a constructive way to deal with it, sleep seems to be the easier route. So I avoid taking responsibility by slipping into a state of avoidance, of listlessness.

The question is: is that really the easier way - to procrastinate and try to avoid what we fear about the day ahead of us? You can't put anything off forever. You may think that you can, that you have shelved something "forever", yet your sub-conscious will remember and keep reminding you in subliminal ways. You will carry that feeling of the 'blah's' until you deal with what is causing you to feel that way.

Unresolved issues are a drain on our energy. It is as if you have a tube connected to the 'problem' and energy keeps leaking from you until you sever the connection by changing your attitude, taking action, and resolving the issue.

So, if you wake up in the morning and feel as if you don't want to get up out of bed, I would suggest you take responsibility for that feeling and ask yourself what it is you are hiding from and then deal with the situation. Once you've get rid of those "unsolved mysteries", and attend to them, you will find that you've regained your lost enthusiasm and your life will be much more enjoyable. 

The avoidance of expected pain or imagined confrontations translates into a mediocre existence lacking in joy and vitality. Your level of vibrancy will be very different when you affirm and practice an enthusiastic and responsive approach to life.

Life can be joyful and happy. You can be like an exuberant child again -- eager to face the toys and joys of the day, and wanting to participate in all of the excitement life has to offer. Take a look at your life and see where you are siphoning off your own energy. Fix your 'leaky pipes' and live your life enthusiastically, always expecting the best, and looking forward to what each new day will bring.

Life's purpose is to live creatively, fulfilling our innermost and highest desires. Go for it! When you reach for your dreams and jump into them enthusiastically, taking responsibility for your thoughts and actions, you will be a much happier (and healthier) person.

Recommended book:

Living Your Joy: A Practical Guide to Happiness
by Suzanne Falter-Barns.

For more info or to order this book.

About The Author

Marie T. Russell is the founder of InnerSelf Magazine (founded 1985). She also produced and hosted a weekly South Florida radio broadcast, Inner Power, from 1992-1995 which focused on themes such as self-esteem, personal growth, and well-being. Her articles focus on transformation and reconnecting with our own inner source of joy and creativity.

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