The Accountability Concern

In order to maintain personal accountability, too often we surround ourselves with people who we blame when our house falls apart and when events do not go our way. We do not want to take responsibility for what happens to us, so we make certain someone is always there to blame.

Blame can be very subtle. When the offender is someone we don't really know or some nefarious "they" that's out there pulling our strings and mashing our buttons, we've accepted the situation as out of our control to change. This seems a misfortunate perspective with little room for relief or resolution.

Another accountability concern happens in our careers and our jobs. Too often it seems management will surround themselves with people who are "yes" people, people who will not challenge their view intellectually or substantially. Most in management seem to not want to think or rethink what they're doing at all. We can see examples of this throughout government, throughout institutions and throughout the business world.

Oftentimes, we have very unfortunate ideas that are mistaken and based upon ignorant views of reality. If we only allow people who agree with our view in our management team and in our support team, we assist ourselves in our own downfall. Our mistaken perceptions and actions riddle our lives and our goals with damages and consequences.

People make decisions every moment that affect so many people; all of us do. Our lives are deeply connected, and where one suffers needlessly, we all suffer needlessly. When we don't see our decisions as affecting more than right now and more than just ourself, we've lost touch with our personal power, yet wield that power so carelessly and callously.

A large sector of our human society is in this destructive potential zone. We can see the consequences all around us and the consequences have been felt for years. From the BP Gulf Oil Spill to the Alberta Oil Spill; from the Hurricane Katrina Disaster to the unfinished recovery of the Gulf Coast; from the multiple mining catastrophes to the numerous crane collapses; from the state of our public schools to the malicious state of our politics; from the Wall Street crisis to the faltering economy.

Despite the growing list of crises and our man-made disasters, I see enormous human potential wherever I look. We can truly recover from anything, and our species can adapt to any environment.

We can make different decisions as an individual and provide a working example of another way to approach our days and our problems. When wronged by another, we cannot continue the wrong/right cycle and instead thank another for the opportunity to break that cycle within ourselves.

It is far too easy to "right" the wrongs done to us by others. It's much easier to "right" the wrongs we've done to ourself. Usually in "righting" the wrong we do wrong. How is that ever the "right" thing to do? Who is ever going to stop this vicious cycle if we don't stop it within our own life first?

If we continue holding others accountable for our failures and our mistaken judgements, we are losing focus on what good we can do this day. Regardless of what happens to us, we are the ultimate person accountable to how we respond to our life. Our response is much more powerful than what just became our past.

Watch how you respond to your day and your life.
Wonder how that response affects yourself and others.
Witness your transformation.

Interlinking Interaction/Our Role in the Oil Spill

While interacting with anyone or doing anything, it is important to acknowledge any feelings or thoughts, good, happy, angry or sad as your own. Those feelings emanate from within yourself.

Oftentimes, we meet someone and good, positive feelings come about for us. That person is only touching on those special bits of yourself. Those good feelings were always there. The same can be said of anger. No one can make you feel angry. We already have that capacity within us as we read these words.

Why should we consider this line of thinking? One of the highest forms of our ignorance is thinking that the answers and the problems are from outside of our life. Many people will disagree. For us this becomes a practical matter. Regardless of the truth, if we don't believe that the solution is within us, we're going to be miserable about what's happening in our life.

We at least have a role to play in everything that's taking place. There's not one part of the universe that isn't directly dependent on the rest of the universe' existence. Even the oil spill in the Gulf. We all have a role to play in what is taking place off the Gulf Coast.

If we've ever pumped gas, used plastics or anything that involves an engine that runs on oil or its byproducts, then we absolutely have a role. What products are not shipped somewhere at some point in this country? Very, very few are not. Take locally made or finished goods. Even those almost always have shipping involved at some point in their construction, finishing or sale.

We actually do believe that everything we experience in our life has gone through only one thing, and that is our own mind. So yes, absolutely, the problems and the solutions are within.

The point here is not to beat up on ourselves about the oil spill or a milk spill. Once a mistake has been made, the resulting mess is happening regardless of anyone and anything. If we feel that we do have a role to play from this moment forward, than we may change the direction that we're all heading. We clean up the milk now, or it'll stink later. If someone hasn't cleaned up the milk, do we just let it stink up our world?