It's Not My Fault!
I was having my hair done and was talking to the hair dresser, you know how that goes, yap, yap, yap about anything and everything. Anyway, somehow we got on the subject of personal responsibility and how it is so lacking in our society these days. We were both on the same page about it.
For some unknown reason, people in our society seem to believe that nothing is their fault. They like to blame other people and circumstances for their own bad choices and bad behaviors. I think that this is perhaps what is causing so many problems in today's youth. They don't feel that they need to be accountable for anything, and if they get caught doing the wrong thing, well they are just kids, they don't know any better. Then you have the parents who stand up for these kids and say well they didn't realize that if they got behind the wheel of the car drunk that they were going to kill someone, it was just an accident.
Well, if you look at this what they are really saying is that I never took the time to teach them that their actions would have consequences. In my opinion that is the equivalent of them saying that they weren't parenting them. I am a firm believer in consequences and even with my children as young as they are, I really do try to reinforce the theory of consequences every day. It is not that I believe they are meant to be perfect, I know it is part of the human experience to make mistakes, but learning from those mistakes is the most important thing. I tell my kids already that there are consequences for every action, even if they don't get caught doing the wrong thing, the universe and God see and know all. I am a firm believer in the boomerang effect, the fact that what you put out into the universe is what you get back and that in and of itself should be enough for people to want to do the right thing.
It is our jobs as adults to not to allow other adults or children to act as if they don't have accountability for their actions. We need to stop giving adults large lawsuit settlements for things that are really no one's fault but there own. We need to encourage our kids and everyone to tell the truth and teach them a conscience so that they can't live with themselves when they have done something wrong. I know the errors that I have personally made, and they still come back to haunt me, but I also know that I have made amends for those actions and have proven that I am truly repentant for my actions by committing myself to not doing those same things again. This really shows God your true repentance. Having been raised Catholic, I know that the church says just go in and confess to a priest say a few hail Marys and God will forgive you. I don't exactly believe that is what God was getting at. I think in short what God was trying to say was learn from your mistakes and don't keep doing the same things over and over again. Saying I am sorry means nothing if you are doing the same thing day after day. To show you are truly sorry is to turn around your attitude and behavior and refrain from doing those same things again.
Let's reinforce for our children the importance of acknowledging their mistakes and moving forward and away from making those same mistakes. Our kids must learn about consequences, if they don't they will never have a successful life.
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