Go ahead, try to keep this straight in your head - Rick

Personal Responsibility

Personal responsibility starts when you recognize a problem or a need whether it is your own, someone else’s or society’s. Some personal responsibilities can be taken care of individually. Others require cooperation and agreement. Sometimes it is necessary to find out if others agree that the need exists. Personal responsibility is the obligation of every person who considers themself to be a good citizen of whatever community they are a member of.
Personal responsibility includes the obligation to recognize and rectify your own mistakes. It requires that you monitor and judge your own actions and motivations and their results. It requires constant reevaluation of what you think and why, comparing them with anything new that you may have learned or discovered. Personal responsibility is the basis of a healthy, productive and beneficial life.
Personal responsibility requires courage and self confidence. Personal responsibility requires that pride be replaced with dignity, because dignity allows other people and yourself leeway that pride denies. Dignity includes humility, while pride sometimes denies fallibility. Personal responsibility requires a willingness to do whatever is necessary, whether you want to or not.
Personal responsibility is an obligation to do the right thing. Personal responsibility is part of love for yourself, your family, friends and neighbors. Personal responsibility is an action of caring. Personal responsibility is sometimes a thankless chore, and can be met with resistance or hostility. Personal responsibility can be as simple as cleaning up your own mess, as complex as starting a community group to reduce crime, and as painful as changing a part of yourself that you realize is destructive to yourself and/or others.
Personal responsibility is a decision that YOU make to live up to your own ideals and expectations. Accepting personal responsibility means that you must beat the fear of failure and vow to keep trying no matter what. Personal responsibility is the way to earn self respect.
Personal responsibility means that you must admit your own mistakes. It means that you must change to the right way when you recognize that you have made an error. Part of personal responsibility is to search for the truth and part of the truth is that everyone makes mistakes. Part of the truth is that mistakes can be fixed and attitudes can be changed. Allowing other people this kind of leeway is part of personal responsibility.
True personal responsibility is based on doing what is right for yourself AND your family AND your neighbors. Accepting this responsibility and making an honest effort to live up to it will give you self respect and lead you toward a real understanding of the idea of love. Personal responsibility is the basis of healthy people, families and communities.

From "Thoughts and Speculations" by R.M.R. Jr.

Reprinted with permission of copyright holder.