No Blame in My Game

On top of your game? Right on! Things are going well? Good news!

However, when circumstances don’t go our way, that’s another story. The first thing we usually do is blame another party. “Why didn’t he ___ ?” “Well, you see if she didn’t do ______ everything would have been fine.” The blame game.

What if we took our share of the responsibility for the conditions we were in? Some might say, “Well, I wasn’t at fault, so why would I take responsibility?” Of course, in cases of assault, some car accidents, and other examples of the like, we cannot blame ourselves as the victim. However, when we’re not timely at work, have an argument with a friend or spouse or plans go amiss, for example, we might have some responsibility.

Now I know it’s easier to blame another person for our transgressions. It certainly feels better at times.

But life isn’t always about feeling good or being comfortable, is it?

Many times, we learn our deepest life lessons through adversity and by being uncomfortable. Therefore, let’s be fearless in our quest towards understanding ourselves and where we’re responsible when things go wrong.

Being fearless doesn’t only mean looking at the situation and being self-reflective to see our part in it, but it also means communicating with the other individual(s) to make peace: “Hi I think things may have gone awry the last time we spoke. Can we talk about it?” If the other party does not respond, let it go. Everyone is not at the same place in their spiritual development. We’ve reached out and offered an olive branch for peace. Our conscience is clear. And furthermore, they may get back to you at a later date when they feel ready to confront the issue. However, it doesn’t make them wrong if they don’t respond at all. As long as we take responsibility for ourselves by being a vehicle for peace, we’re changing the world in some small way into a place where there’s more peace within ourselves and for each other.