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What a great way to avoid
responsibility for who we are and what we do. We need only say to
ourselves or to others, "It's just the way I am."
The phrase implies that we have
no control over who we are and what we do. What we think, feel, and do can
then be blamed on the influence of others, or on forces beyond our control.
If we fail, if we are angry or depressed, someone else is responsible for it.
It is true, of course, that we
have all suffered some negative influences from others, and that adverse
circumstances at times have touched each of us.
But a core of freedom remains
within us, and it is there, at the core of our being, where we have relative
freedom to shape our lives.
Relative freedom is quite enough
for responsible decisions, and in this life, relative freedom is all we are ever
going to have.
The honest person takes
responsibility for his or her life without excuses, for personal responsibility
is the truth of life. Without this truth, there can be no human community. |
