Why Personal Responsibility Is Important for Life Success

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary personal means relating to the person or body and responsibility means the quality or state of being responsible such as a moral, legal, or mental accountability. Fritz Perls, the father of gestalt therapy, said that, “responsibility meant that we all have the ability to personally respond – “response-ability”. Perls also referred responsibility to the ability to move, feel, live, and change you. So, to my understanding, personal responsibility is one’s ability to care for what has been entrusted to them.

It is when an individual accepts the outcome of whatever actions or decisions he/or she makes, instead of blaming other people for what did not turn out right. Personal Responsibility is important to me because it is something that I am supposed to have as a child of the Most High God. In this essay, it is my goal to define what personal responsibility is and what it means to me, explain the relationship between personal responsibility and college success, and give an example of how I plan to practice personal responsibility in my education. Personal Responsibility in everyday life.

What do you think of when you hear these words? For me it means putting God first in all that I do and trusting Him to keep all of His promises to me. Scripture tells us that it we are to accept personal responsibility for ourselves (Galatians. 6:5) and our own actions (2 Corinthians 5:10), for widows and orphans, (James 1:27) for our relatives (1 Timothy 5:8), and for those in need (Deuteronomy 15: 7-11). I have learned to accept personal responsibility more so when I am wrong than when I am right. Why? Because it teaches me and others how to become mature.

When we accept our personal responsibilities, it takes the load off of others. Now, there are some who would argue with me saying that it is not their responsibility to take care the widows, orphans, those in need. All I have to say to those individuals is whose responsibility will it be when you are down and out? Social Security? Unemployment? Department of Health and Human Resources? Once again I will refer to scripture by saying that we are all helpers of one another (1 Thessalonians 5:11). When we graduate from High School and attend college,

it is our personal responsibility to purchase our books and supplies, show up for class, take notes, study, and make good grades. No one else can do this for us. Oddly enough, this is a time when most of learn that we are on our own. Instead of a “teacher”, we have an “instructor”. My wife was once told by a college professor that he was an instructor, not a teacher. He was there to give the assignment and grade it. The students were supposed to have already learned most everything prior to that particular college course, therefore it would be their personal responsibility to be on time for class, take notes, and turn in their assignments.

In our careers our personal responsibilities may come with a little more authority. We become responsible for employers, employees, clients, and/or customers. Making sure that everyone is well taken care of and provided for becomes our number one priority. It does not matter what field of work one goes into, we are always going to have to deal with others, putting them before ourselves. Once again I refer to scripture when it talks about “esteeming others more highly than ourselves” (Philippians 2:3). Failing to accept one’s responsibilities here could result in losing their job.

The relationship between personal responsibility and college success and closely related. In order to be successful in college, one must be willing to accept responsibility for every action they take and thought they make. College is not easy and therefore will take a lot of hard work, effort, the ability to handle diverse situations, and maturity. I believe that it should be mandatory for juniors and seniors in high school to take at least one college course before graduation in preparation for college. This would give them a taste of the level of personal responsibility they have ahead of them.

It has been my experience that the older or more mature the college student, the more apt he/she is to accept the personal responsibilities that come with college. With all of this being said, it is my plan to practice personal responsibility in my education by helping others who are new to online classes, making sure that my assignments are complete and turned in on time, showing courtesy and respect to my classmates and my teammates, and asking questions when I do not understand something. Some people would not view asking questions as a personal responsibility, but it is. It is our responsibility to ask for ourselves and for others.

If we do not ask and our work is incomplete, we have no one to blame but ourselves. This is what I believe the instructors are here for, to instruct us into the right direction with the right information. I hope that the points I have made about the importance of personal responsibility in everyday life, college, and our careers was both interesting and able help others see things a little different than before. For myself, I have learned even more about the importance of not only taking care of myself but also for those around me. This to me is what personal responsibility is all about.