Personal Responsibility

People often talk about their responsibilities, be it responsibility as a child, a parent, a doctor, an engineer, a good citizen or a spouse.  But I yet heard anyone talking about his responsibility to himself.  Yup, people often forget the one person that’s very important in their lives, themselves.  I asked a friend if she thinks that she has any responsibility to herself and she said I’m crazy.  To her, she owns herself and thus can do anything she wants with herself.  Is this true?

I’m not sure about others, but I do strongly feel that as a person, I do have responsibility to myself.  The word responsibility – response-ability, means the ability to response. For me, it is the ability to response to the inner me and my surroundings.  I think the most important responsibilities that I have towards myself are :

1. Take care of my body so that it can function at its optimum level.  Mind you, I only have one body and I will use this very same body for the next 80 years.  I rather chase my grandchildren in the backyard than lying on bed regretting myself.
2. Never stop learning.  I’m a full-time student of life and I always have this hunger for things that I don’t know and things that I have already know.  I find it’s very fascinating to learn something new, even if it’s as simple as how to crack a chestnut (I love chestnuts!!).  I learn from everyone and everything: my parents, lecturers, little kids, books, videos, audios, cats, sauce pans, pencil etc. 
3. Feed my soul.  Doesn’t matter what religion you are or even if you’re an atheist, you need to feed your soul.  It’s a way for me to escape from the havoc world and lost in the peacefulness inside of me.  It works as a good stress reliever for me.

It doesn’t matter how busy you are, or how many lives you’re leading, do not forget about your own self.  If you’re the kind of person who always put others before yourself, it’s time to start thinking about yourself.