Whose responsiblity?

I am slowly learning about responsibility. I feel that people need to take more responsibility for their actions. Do I practice what I preach? No, not all the time, but this is one of the things I am trying to learn to do.

We are constantly faced with choices. If we do nothing, that is also considered a choice. If we are unhappy with things, we need to start at the beginning, start with ourselves and take responsibility for the choices we have made. How much of the situation is due to a choice we made, by doing or by not doing something? I am not saying that we are solely reponsible for everthing but we have to realize that this is our life and the choices we make affect how we live this life.

I recently had a friend talk to me about choices. What I realize is that I have a lot more power and control because of these choices. In order to take that power and that control, I have to accept the responsiblity of my actions and the outcome of choices that I make.

Most people, myself included, do not accept that we have as many choices as we do, this helps us avoid taking responsibility, but then we have lost the power and control that many of us long for.
Our choices are endless. What we choose to do, or not do do. What we chose to say or not to say. Our reactions to events. How we chose to deal with the outcome of events. If we choose to do something that someone esle doesn't like, approve of, or accept, we have to take responsibility and acknowledge that it was our choice.

I need to take charge of my own life and accept taht I am making my own choices and understand that I play a role in my own destiny, because I have made those choices. If I don't like something in my life, it is my responsibility to do something about it and make some decisions, take action. I fI chose to do nothing, then I have chosen to life with what I do not like in my life. I have to take responsibility and understand that I have chosen not to change things. Then I have to live with it. I have power but I chose not to use it. It is no one's fault but my own.
At the end of the day, your life is your own choice and your own responsibility. You must play the cards that you have been dealt, but how you play them becomes important.

In Texas Hold'em (poker), there is an aspect of the game that is based on luck, and percentages...you get dealt your hand...over this, you have no cnotrol. Just as in life there are things that you cannot change...circumstances that are out of your control.

When you look at those cards, you need to make choices; Do you fold and wait for a better hand? Do you check, wait without doing anything? Do you call, and take the risk? Do you raise, believing that you have a good chance of winning? Do you go all in, betting it all, knowing that you can win? Do you bluff, trusting your own instinct? Do you pay to see the flop, take the risk at more variables over which you have no more control than the cards in your hand, supposing you might have a chance?

The guy next to you might appear to have a better hand, but that is his hand, not yours. You have no control over what cards are in his hand, you have very little control over what he choses to do. Your actions may persuade him to make different choices. However, when it comes down to it, in the end, his hand, that's his choice. You need to worry about your choices, about the cards you have and how you are going to deal with them. You are both working with the same common denomenator, over which neither of you has any control. What has occured in the past can help you to make current choices. However, you must each make your decision and then take responsibility for the outcome based on that choice.

Life isn't tournament style, as there is never just one winner, but it is definitely no limit. There are days when you can't even afford to play. There are days when you keep loosing but you can afford to keep playing. There are days when you are almost broke, but you keep getting the right cards and can continue.

My strongest days and most rewarding moments are those when I am not dealt the greatest cards, and my luck does not seem that great, but I make the right choices. I fold when I need to, and seldom bluff. I may still lose, but I made the right choice for myself, and I learn, so that I can come back and try again.

You might not always like the end result, but you must always be aware that you made choices to get you to that point. Do not try to control other people's choices, instead, take responsibility for the strength you have, the power you hold and the way you use them both with the choices you make.