We can’t really put our thumbs on what responsibility means can we?
At one point in our lives it means keeping our room clean. At another point it means that we “consistently” go to class. Later it comes to mean that we’re punctual with our appointments and commitments. And then eventually it means we pay our taxes (on time of course).
The problem here is not that this is a bad way to define one’s responsibility. The problem is that it appears to not make the responsible one happy, but make the one whom they’re responsible to happy.
If I kept my room clean, mom and dad were happy. If I went to class, the professor was happy which equaled an ‘A’. If I make it to the meeting on time, my boss is happy so maybe a raise is in the future. If I pay my taxes I can sleep at my house and not at Club Fed. See, if I call you ‘responsible’…chances are you somehow made me happy. Responsibility, as we’ve come to define it, feels more like blackmail doesn’t it?
This isn’t are argument against The Man or a plea for you to only think about you. Yes, be punctual. Yes, pay your taxes. Yes, provide for your family. But let’s call it what it is…being polite, obeying the law, and leadership.
I’m here to argue that in the midst of our timeliness, promptness, straight A’s and clean rooms we’re not responsible enough. Or put it another way, we’ve neglected responsibility in too many non-negotiable areas.
Our responsibility, at its root, is to our dreams. Our responsibility, at the core, is to leave this place different from how we found it. Our responsibility is our music….which is two in one: your gift to the world and your fulfillment.
Only you can write your music and there are few things that take the amount of courage it takes for the responsibility you’ve been given.
Bravery be with us and help us earn the badge of responsibility.
Ashton.Gustafson 