Dear Heaven Maker:
COVID-19, Racism, Economic Turmoil, Environmental Degradation, Financial Insecurity.
Our world today is filled with turmoil. ‘I don’t know’/We don’t know’ is the new certainty.
What do we do?
We can throw up our hands, we can retreat to our addiction of choice, we can pretend the problems aren’t there.
There is another path.
We can be responsible and contribute to effective solutions.
But ‘responsibility’ is such a loaded word.
How can I be responsible to end racism? I can’t be responsible to end Covid, I’m not a doctor. Creating environmental sustainability is just too overwhelming.
This week I want to dive into ‘responsibility’ and give you a new, fresh perspective on it.
The following article is from my book Project Heaven on Earth available globally on Amazon.
Warmly,
Martin
Being Responsible
To produce a result, you need to be responsible for it being produced. Setting an objective for yourself and being responsible for accomplishing it energizes you and others. When you accomplish what you’ve set out to accomplish, you move forward, you feel a sense of momentum, you expand your capacity.
In creating Heaven on Earth, we are going to confront the need to be responsible for problems, issues, roadblocks, and opportunities that are not in our normal realm of responsibility.
If each of the more than seven billion people in our world today think we are individually not responsible for ending war, then we have a global mind-set that will at best only produce interim solutions to selected wars. We won’t have a global mind-set that is committed to and responsible for ending war once and for all. Imagine all of us actually being responsible for ending war. How long do you think the existence of war would last? That’s exactly the kind of thinking and perspective needed to help create Heaven on Earth.
If expanding our sense of responsibility can give us new benefits — the end of war, the end of poverty, the end of disease, the end of hunger — why are we so reluctant to expand what we are responsible for? Why are we willing to be responsible only for certain things and not others?
It’s because our beliefs tell us there are certain things we are not and cannot be responsible for: “I’m not responsible for ending an armed conflict between two groups.” “I’m not responsible for ending world hunger.” “I’m not responsible for ending homelessness, environmental pollution, slavery, or torture.” Why do we draw a line where our responsibility ends, especially if we would really like to see these issues ended?
Take a moment to look at your life and see what you are not willing to be responsible for. Where do you draw the line separating what you are and are not willing to be responsible for?
Why do people continue being not responsible? Because when they think about being responsible for additional issues, there is an association of responsibility with blame, shame, guilt, or burden. Phrases shouted in anger like, “Who’s responsible for this?” or embarrassingly mumbled like, “I am responsible for that,” have led us to be apprehensive of, frightened by, or overwhelmed by the idea of being responsible for some aspects of life. We may feel that being more responsible means taking on more burdens or more blame or guilt, and who wants that?
Let me be clear here. I am not talking about taking responsibility, I’m talking about being responsible. Taking responsibility implies added burden. Being responsible implies a willingness to be responsible for producing a chosen result. It doesn’t mean you have to do it all. It does, however, mean it has to get done.
And, it’s easier than you think. As my dear friend Bob Branscom, a management trainer and author, used to say, “You don’t have to be 100% responsible 100% of the time for 100% of it all. All it takes is a willingness to operate as though you are responsible.” You don’t even have to believe you are responsible in order to be responsible. All you have to do is live life as though you are responsible for bringing about a chosen result and observe what happens.
Living from “I am not responsible,” you are at the effect of life. Life does it to you. Living from “I am responsible,” you are at cause in life. You are in your center of power and creativity. You are making the kind of difference in the world that gives you the pleasure of accomplishment.
My friend, author, philosopher, teacher, Gordon Allan says:
“This new view of responsibility arises directly out of the notion of Humanity as a living entity with individuals being analogous to the cells of the collective human organism. Each person, each part of Humanity, has a specific task, but can’t live or function independently of others, nor can Humanity as a whole function independent of each of us.
“Responsibility at this level is a paradox that by its nature cannot be rationally understood but can be intuited. The following statement illustrates this: ‘Humanity is engaged in an extraordinary transformation. Whether or not it succeeds is [y]our responsibility.’ Viewed from this relational context, we are responsible, both individually and collectively, for the co-creation of Heaven on Earth.”
Please share this blog with one or two people.
Martin Rutte
