Responsible Behavior

Responsible means that you are answerable or accountable for your behavior. Are you a responsible person? Why / Why not? Being responsible does not mean that you always do the right thing. If it did we would probably have no responsible people in the world! What it does mean is that you make choices about what you will do and that you accept the consequences of your actions. Little kids are often not responsible because they don't accept the consequences. As you become more mature you develop the skill to be accountable. It would not be responsible to blame someone else for something you did. It would also not be responsible to take the blame for something you did not do!

One key to understanding responsibility is to know what you can control and what you cannot control. You can't take responsibility for things that are out of your control... like the weather! If you try to accept responsibility for things out of your control you will cause great amounts of stress for yourself, and we know this isn't healthy.

Mature people recognize the difference and know that when they are given rights they must also accept the responsibilities that go with them. When we are responsible, we are trusted by others. Trust brings privileges... like going out and doing things with friends. So, making choices about our behaviors in situations that we can control and accepting the consequences of our behaviors makes us responsible, which leads to trust, which gives privilege. Not a bad deal!

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