Taking responsibility for oneself brings out God-given talents

Taking responsibility for our lives can bring out our God-given talents

This column continues with the essay entitled “The Awakening.” The unknown author continues pushing us to take responsibility for our own lives and to be all that He wants us to be. Last week, the author discussed self-realizations that open to us when we give control to God. In today’s writing, the writer continues that trek.

“We learn that we do not know everything and it is not our job to save the world. We learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance of setting boundaries and the ability to say ‘No.’

“We learn that the only cross we have to bear is the one we choose to carry. We learn about love – how to love, how much to give in love, when to stop giving and when to walk away. We learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as we wish them to be.

“We stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes. We learn that being alone does not mean being lonely. We also stop working so hard at putting our feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring our needs. We come to the realization that we deserve to be treated with love, kindness, sensitivity and respect.

“We learn that our bodies really are our temples and we begin to care for them and treat them with respect. We learn to eat a balanced diet, drink more water and take more time to exercise. We learn that being tired fuels doubt, fear and uncertainty and so we take more time to rest.

“Just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul. We take more time to laugh and to play. We learn, for the most part, that we get out of life what we believe we deserve, and that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“We learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for. Wishing for something to happen is radically different from working toward making it happen. More important, we learn that to achieve success we need direction, discipline and perseverance.

“We also learn that no one can do everything and it is OK to ask for help. We learn the only thing we must truly fear is the greatest robber baron of all: fear itself. We learn to step right into and through our fears because we know that whatever happens we can handle them. Giving into our fears is to give away the right to live life on our own terms.

“We learn to fight for life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending doom. We learn that life is not always fair. We do not always get what we think we deserve and, sometimes, bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people. When these things happen, we learn not to personalize them. God is not punishing us or failing to answer our prayers.

“We learn to deal with evil in its most primal state – our ego. We learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of us and poison our surroundings.

“We learn to admit when we are wrong and to build bridges instead of walls. We learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many simple things we take for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about: a full refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.

“We begin to take responsibility for ourselves and we make a promise never to betray ourselves and never settle for less than our hearts’ desires. We make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.

“Finally, with courage in our hearts and God by our sides, we take a stand, we take a deep breath and we begin to design the life we want to live to the best of our ability.”