Defining Personal Responsibility Essay Example for Free

Defining Personal Responsibility Essay Abstract Personal responsibility is the choices and obligations we make in life. Everyone is responsible for their own actions no one else. We all must have good character, moral values and a healthy lifestyle in order to accept personal responsibility. Once we use our good character and moral values to help us know what is right and wrong, it is up to us to be responsible and make the right decisions. Also promoting a healthy life style show you are responsible mentally, physically and emotionally. All in all, once we accept the fact that we are the only ones who can change our lives by making good choices, we have accepted personal responsibility! Defining Personal Responsibility and Obligations to Oneself Personal Responsibility is realizing that you are responsible for the choices and obligations you make in your life! According to Dr. Dlugokinski, â€Å"Accepting personal responsibility may be one of the keys to happiness. † It is our responsibility to make sure we have good character, moral values and a healthy life style, no matter who influences you or how you grew up. Then and only then can you achieve this ultimate happiness. As we grow as people we develop many responsibilities throughout our life and we will always experience difficult choices. As a responsible person, it is up to us to decide what is good or bad, right or wrong and to accept the consequences of our actions. Good character refers to the many qualities that distinguish one individual from another. (Merriam-Webster). Everyone has character, it is just up to us to decide which characteristics are our strengths and which are our weaknesses. Having qualities such as being trustworthy or punctual are good characteristics in a person, which if used correctly will have good results to our actions. Where does personal responsibility fit in? Well we are responsible to choose which characteristics define us as a person. Making the choice to be punctual instead of late all the time shows that we are personally responsible about our good character. If we choose to be late instead of punctual, we are not accepting our personal responsibility that we must be punctual so we suffer from the consequences. Moral values are the values of good and evil, which help us make the right and wrong choices in life. We develop these moral values throughout our life time and it is our personal responsibility to use them when making choices or obligations. Having moral values is important in personal responsibility because the moral values you live by will help you determine what’s right and what’s wrong. Once we’ve determined what’s right or wrong we use those values to help make sure we are doing the right thing which is the responsible way to do it. Finally, having a healthy life style is the most important key to personal responsibility. Everyone is responsible for how they live their lives but it is important to make sure you are mentally, emotionally and physically stable in order to live a good life. We as people like to blame everyone else for our problems but the only real person to blame are ourselves. We ourselves are personally responsible for the way we live are lives no one else. If you don’t live a healthy lifestyle it is your responsibility to change that or accept the burdens that come with not living a healthy life style. When you accept responsibility, you admit you are the one responsible for the choices made in your life. We, no other person or thing, are responsible for what we choose and think. It is our life, and we are the only ones responsible for it. Roman statesman Claudius Caecus quoted, â€Å"Each man the architect of his own fate. † Meaning we are responsible for our lives will turn out, no one else. Once we decide what we want in life and take responsibility for it, we have accepted personally responsibility. References character. (n. d. ). Merriam-Websters Medical Dictionary. Retrieved October 10, 2011, from Dictionary. com website: http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/character * I used this reference from the dictionary to give my readers a better understanding to what character means. I also wanted to explain that it is good character that is needed in a person’s personality that will help them achieve personal responsibility. People must avoid victimization mindset. (1995, May 24). Journal Record, pp. NOPGCIT. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/259366813?accountid=35812 * Dr. Eric Dlugokinski, psychologist and professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, says accepting your own responsibility requires determination, commitment and a recognition of reality. Dlugokinski said, If you dont know where your responsibilities start and stop, you continue blaming others and stay in an emotional rut forever. Defining personal responsibility, in many cases, requires soul-searching. Responsibility. (2007). Bloomsbury Business Library U. S. Business Quotations, 133. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. * The article presents quotes related to responsibility from U. S. journalist Ambrose Bierce, Roman statesman Claudius Caecus and British poet Richard Aldington. This specific quote was delivered by the Romas statesman Clausius Caecus (fl. 300 b. c. ). It was quoted in De Civitate (Sallust), sect. 1. This quote was perfect on concluding how I feel about personal responsibility. He says we are the arichetect of our own fate. He is saying that we decide how our lifes will turn out, no one else and that is accepting personal responsibility. It is a quote that sums up my whole paper in a single phrase. I have found out that it was quite difficult to find resources on the University Library for my essay. The library offers amazing resources for research but not much for personal essays. I did however manage to find a few quotes that fit perfectly in my essay. My first reference is not from the library, it is an internet resource from a reliable dictionary. This site is published so it is stating that it is reliable. The two sources given from the library are reviewed and published which means they are very reliable sources. I believe these resources strengthen my essay because it gives my reader a factual understanding.