I think taking responsibility for whatever happens or however you feel is one of the most important (and most mature) things we can do.

It’s so easy in today’s culture to try to place blame on someone or something else. Take for example my inability to complete the run across Tennessee last year. I only made it 104 miles. Let’s see, there were many things I could have blamed for my inability to finish (called a DNF – did not finish). There was very high heat, there were long stretches of open road where the sun just beat down on you, there was supposedly high humidity, there were hills, I did things I wouldn’t have done on my own, etc.

But you know what? I knew it was in July in Tennessee so of course I knew it was hot, humid and hilly. Plus, there is an email group that talks about the event so I had all the information I needed about the environment. And I live in Texas so I was acclimated. Therefore it’s not the “fault” of the environment. I also chose to do the things that I now say I wouldn’t have done on my own. The pros of doing them then definitely outweighed any cons I might have thought of. And I probably would have made other bad decisions.

Bottom line, here’s why I didn’t finish. Yes I was injured so that’s another good “excuse” why I didn’t complete the journey. But you know what? The reason I had the injury was that I trained wrong and did everything wrong – and that I knew was wrong in my subconscious mind. But I let the anxiety of possibly “not finishing” get to me – and guess what? I didn’t finish. Imagine that – the Law of Attraction actually works. Ha ha!

Once I took responsibility for not completing this event and examined the choices I made, then I was able to take the good from it and realize the lessons I learned – and there were many. Taking responsibility actually gives me the power to change things. Why would I  (or why would you) want to give your power to something else that you can’t control (such as the environment)? I don’t want to give my power away to anyone or anything. Do you?

Embracing the journey includes taking responsibility for whatever happens no matter how tempting it is to try to find an excuse or something to blame. Do you try to find something or someone to “blame” for the good things that happen in your life? Of course not. You will frequently thank others for their help in the process but you don’t completely put the responsibility for the accomplishment on them do you?

Think about your life and the things that haven’t gone as planned and see if you can revisit them. Where did you put the power? Let us know what you come up with.

Terrie