Personal Accountability
by Rev Marcy Ellen
One of the most effective ways to acquire freedom within our lives and relationships is to become directly accountable for every experience that we encounter along our sojourns. Unfortunately the ego likes to point us in the outward direction because it associates personal accountability with blame and self-condemnation. Self-condemnation is threatening to the ego because it can’t differentiate between true-self and false-self so in a fight for its survival it creates and sustains an illusion of separation.
As long as we continue to believe that someone or something “out there” is responsible for our personal experiences here in the physical world then the ego can and will prevent us from attaining the ultimate gift of self-realization. Blaming outwardly satisfies the ego’s goal of self-preservation but the end result is the preservation of the false-self rather than the true-self. In other words when we blame others for our experiences the ego gets to stay in business.
The self that the ego is concerned with preserving is not our true or authentic self. The ego is only concerned with preserving itself and its self-created illusions. The self that we should really be focused on preserving or at the very least revealing should be that of the authentic self. Uncovering our true-self takes a lot of time and commitment but the process can’t even begin until we take an honest inventory of ourselves and the parts that we play in creating the external events in our lives. Taking responsibility for our experiences not only leads us to a better understanding of ourselves but it gives us the freedom to create the experiences that we desire most.
Whenever we blame others for our unhappiness in any given moment it’s like putting our car in cruise control at 90 MPH and then blaming the road for our discomfort every time we hit a pot hole. We have the choice to take control of the vehicle at any given moment and make the ride more enjoyable. If we don’t do that then that is our choice as well. However, if we willingly relinquish control of the car then it would seem quite silly to blame the road or the car for any discomfort that we encounter along the way.
The same is true for any uneasiness that we encounter in our lives or relationships. We can blame other people for our experiences or we can take control of our own lives by having personal accountability or by taking our lives out of cruise control. The moment we bring accountability back to ourselves we become empowered by gaining control of our own experiences. It is so helpful to remember that we have a part in creating all of our experiences through the law of cause-and-effect. Either we consciously drive our vehicles and cause the effects that we desire or we unconsciously put our vehicles in cruise control and cause the effects that we do not desire.
We can easily decipher which scenario we are presently in by looking at the external effects in our lives. If they are desirable and exactly as we would have them be then we know we put forth a conscious cause in which case we have assumed personal accountability. If the effects in our lives are undesirable then we know we have put forth a subconscious cause in which we have not assumed personal accountability, meaning that somewhere along the way we gave our power away and simply forgot about it.
The ego loves the cruise control setting. It attempts to avoid personal accountability at all cost. If it can find a way to pass the buck in any situation it will. In fact you can see the ego in action right now as you are reading this article about personal accountability. As you read this are you thinking about your own faults and responsibilities in certain unfavorable situations or are you thinking about the faults and responsibilities of someone else? Do you believe that you have the power within you to be happy and free right now? Or are you fostering the belief that your life would be perfect if only someone or something outside of yourself was different?
It’s ironic, yet completely natural for the ego to read about personal responsibility and then think of all the people that could benefit from the lesson while totally excluding itself altogether. It is also quite clear when the ego has taken over. If you find yourself placing blame outwardly then you are in cruise control and the ego is driving the car. If you find yourself taking responsibility for your own experiences then you are clearly in control of the vehicle.
As long as you are taking up residence in this physical world of duality then it’s totally natural to bounce back and forth between spirit and ego or between the true-self and the false-self. So when you discover that the ego has taken over the driving just simply acknowledge it with some levity and get back in control. Within each and every moment you have a choice. You can be in self-control or you can be in cruise-control. The choice is yours. Do you want to take control of your journey or do you want your journey to take control of you?
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About the Author
Rev. Marcy Ellen is the author of The Soul Truth; Reflections for the Waking Soul. She is a spiritual channel, energy healer, Reiki Master, and a radio host with a Master of Divinity Degree from the University of Metaphysical Sciences. www.simpleloveadvice.com
