Own It

I just finished speaking with one of my students for not taking responsibility for his actions. He pushed another student down because she was "cutting" in front of him and he apparently didn't like that. Anytime he gets in trouble, he denies it and ALWAYS blames it on the other students. It's so frustrating because I can't get through to him that he needs to own up to his actions. I fear that if he continues this approach, so he doesn't get in trouble, it'll hurt him later on in life.

A life lesson that we all need to consider or teach to others is taking responsibility for our own actions. All too often, people are constantly blaming others for the pain and misery that was caused by a certain situation they were "put" in. As human beings, we have to take the good with the bad. I mean if we do something wonderful and courageous...we take the credit don't we? We own it. If we do something that wasn't the best idea and it fails...we automatically try to shift the blame, because we don't want it on us. Unfortunately, nobody MAKES us do anything...we do. We make that choice; therefore it's our responsibility to own both the rewards and consequences. It's how we will learn and it's how we will grow to conquer the next challenge.

My story: I went to The Ohio State University for two years.... I loved it there. My sisters were there, I had amazing friends, we lived in a great house, and I had a fun job. At the end of my sophomore year, I made a choice that I was going to transfer schools to be closer to my ex-husband/ boyfriend at the time. Things weren't going well between us, I was lonely and bored, and I didn't like my new school. After I realized what a huge mistake I made by leaving OSU, I began to feel resentful and blamed HIM for my move. It made me angry and I refused to take responsibility for it. I felt that since I sacrificed my life for him, he should be the one to own up to MY mistake. It's funny because I look back and think how ridiculous that was. Even though I knew he wanted me to move, he never asked me to. It was MY sacrifice, MY move, and MY choice. It seemed like it had everything to do with him, but in the end it had everything to do with me. I finally own it and it actually feels pretty good.