Free Will and Responsibility

Responsibility is being able to acknowledge and recognize that an outcome happened because of a choice. Responsibility is also accepting accountability for a particular choice. Once a person learns self-control, and can take blame rather than place blame, he or she can become a happy and successful person.

Usually, everyone is capable of being responsible for his or her choices. As much as we might often see responsibility as a burden, it is one of the most important character traits in life. In most cases, there is no other person to blame for what your life is beside yourself. One example of being responsible is going to bed earlier so that I’m rested for school or work. Responsibility involves self-discipline. In order to get to school and work on time, I have to make sure that I go to bed on time.

Being irresponsible is easier, less time consuming, and less challenging. Placing blame on others is always the easiest way out of any situation, and it never fixes a problem. When you allow others to be responsible for you, you give away the power to control your life and the freedom to be who you want to be. When I allow myself to stay up late and talk on the phone, I am not fully rested and often late to school. When I am working as a lifeguard in the summer, not being rested can cause me to not perform my duties to the best of my ability. I am less alert, which puts peoples lives in danger.

Imagine how great the world would be if everyone would take on one more ounce of responsibility for themselves and for their community. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own