Pride and Personal Responsibility

You can’t give it, buy it, or just tell your kids to get some of it. It is something that must be earned – alone. 

Unfortunately, both pride and personal responsibility are going by the wayside in today’s society, which is why they have their place as a category at The Slow Bleed. 

Pride can be obtained only by accomplishing something you have to work for. If you are naturally good at it — right off the bat — pride doesn’t happen. Pride comes from not being good at something and working hard to get better. Then, once you work hard enough, you feel pride in what you have accomplished. 

But today everyone must be a “winner.” No child should be left behind and God forbid we challenge their developing egos. Competition today, among kids, provides that everyone wins. No one rides the bench in sports and everyone “ties” for first prize in the science contest. 

Of course, this in no way emulates real life. The cold, hard truth awaiting all of us when we go out on our own is made more difficult for those who are not prepared to handle it. 

Personal responsibility, on the other hand, is accepting the consequences, good or bad, for your actions. You don’t’ get to make excuses or blame others for your actions. The fault again, good or bad, is yours. 

These are traits disappearing today. It is far too easy, and socially acceptable, to blame an outside source for anything. 

• Not getting good grades in school? Must be the teacher’s fault. 

• Didn’t get a high-paying job? Must be the fault of the government. 

• Trouble with your relationships? Must be your parent’s fault. 

• Slip and fall? Must be the person that made the sidewalk or your shoes. 

Lack of personal responsibility is the source of many frivolous lawsuits as well as people not trying to work harder to better their lives — it is just easier to blame someone else. 

If you are not successful, it is not because the cosmos dealt you some bogus hand. It is not the cards you are dealt but what you do with them that matters. I have seen people overcome horrible tragedy to end up phenomenally successful…and conversely, I have seen people with seemingly every advantage in the world destroy themselves and those around them. 

In the end, whether you are talking about pride or personal responsibility, we must make sure future generations have a strong sense of both. Let them lose, let them bruise themselves; let them fail. They must earn it on their own and should be given the latitude and the ability to succeed and fail along the way.