No matter what life on Earth hands you, you are responsible for it. You are responsible for your life. No one else is. Only you. No longer can you blame your disturbances on someone else, no one, nothing. You are responsible for the conduct of your life. No longer can you cry: “No fair.”

At the same time, of course, it’s clear that everyone is responsible to everyone. Certainly, others – the seeming others – contribute. Everything contributes. Events, personalities, your upbringing, the land you live in, the world at large. No doubt about it, other factors play a part to the state of your affairs and, still, it comes back to you, and how you deal with what you have before you. This is the question: What do you do now? What do you make of the fix you see yourself in? How do you deal the cards, beloveds? How do you deal the cards from now on? Where are you going? And what do you take with you?

No one expects you to be a saint, yet it is incumbent upon you to take responsibility for every thought, word, and deed of yours. It’s vital that you not blame others. Don’t blame yourself either. Responsibility is the issue, not blame. You are responsible for where you go from here. You are responsible. Even in extreme circumstances, you are responsible for your good will. You are responsible for taking leaps forward. There is something you can do. It is not good enough to repeat old holding patterns and throw up your hands as if you are helpless.

Do not let what I’m saying make you tense. Let what I say make you relax. Whatever you may be going through, it is not out of your hands. How you feel, how you respond, the action or inaction you take, the attitude you take, you are responsible for them. It is a good thing that you are responsible because, now, you can change your tune. Now you take the responsibility that is yours and lift yourself a notch.

Forego complaint. Complaint is no longer a choice you have. Of course, it is a choice, but it is a poor choice. Complaining may be one of your holding patterns, and it must go.

When you come to a crossroads, you have to cross it. You can’t just stand there. You are not helpless. Did you think you were?

Whatever you are going through, you will weather it. You always have. There are frequent turns in the road. If you got yourself into a spot, no matter how, you got in it, and now it’s up to you to get out. If you were pushed into a pit, climb out! This is all about taking responsibility. Whatever someone else does or did is beside the point. What are you going to do now? Sit and stew? Or get up and change your circumstances?

If you are walking down a sidewalk, and you trip, you are responsible. It doesn’t matter if there is a hole in the sidewalk. It doesn’t matter if the hole should not have been there. It doesn’t matter if there was a bump and you tripped over it. It doesn’t matter if someone pushed you. It doesn’t matter. What you do from here matters. What you make of your tripping matters. All the in’s and out’s are beside the point.

I am suggesting that you get to the chase. Let go of all the explanations. Accept responsibility. It takes courage. You are responsible for your courage.

No more complaining. No more blaming. No more pointing a finger at another. This is your life, not someone else’s.

Certainly, you are not going to try to prove otherwise. Something’s gotta give, and it’s you.