With great responsibility, comes great power
My name is Jeanine, and I am a fan of responsibility.
Yep. You read that correctly.
Without it, I would never have committed to my healing journey, moved/travelled to different continents, started my own business, pursued my soul's calling, or become the woman I am today.
Hence why I selected it as one of the pillars of my coaching from the moment I became a space-holder.
Despite it being something many of us have negative associations with ("urghhhh, it's such a heavy burden!" I hear someone moan in the background), I believe it to be at the very heart of freedom and change.
Let’s unpack it together, shall we?
Being a nerd and a history fan, please indulge me as I take us back to the beginning. 🤓
The root of the word comes from Latin "responsus" (which means “to respond”) + "ability" = the ability to respond.
So what if, rather than being something that is imposed on us by the outer world, responsibility actually stands for our skill/freedom/power to respond to something/someone/life?
That changes things, doesn’t it?
While we can't control other people or the future, responsibility takes us back to what is in our sphere of influence.
It points us in the direction of our power, it reveals what is in our hands as it says "this you CAN change, this you CAN influence, this YOU can choose".
How cool is that?
That's why, as I always tell my clients, with great responsibility comes great power.
It magically transforms us from passive damsels in distress waiting to be saved (i.e. "Life happens to me. I don't want to step into my power to respond to life, somebody needs to come do it for me"), to active main characters willing to take charge of their own story (i.e. "I choose to respond to life by engaging and partaking in whatever unfolds").
Once we claim full responsibility, we can finally choose how we want to respond to what arises within and around us, and ultimately how we want to live our lives.
Taking responsibility for one’s life is a bold move.
It takes growing up, maturing.
It takes letting our inner child know that we’ve got her, as we step into being an adult.
It takes breaking free from the training wheels, while grabbing the handlebar saying “I’ve got this, even if I wobble”.
It takes surrendering the fantasy that someone is going to “discover” us or show up to save us: to make us feel good/complete, to give us what we’ve always wanted, to make our lives real and worthy.
Until we take responsibility for our lives we will be waiting to start fully living.
We will be throwing tantrums while pointing fingers at people, blaming and playing victim.
We will allow others to tell us what to do, how to feel, and who we are.
We will put off pursuing our heart’s longings and make excuses instead of taking courageous action.
We will wilt in frustration, bitterness and resentment, as we deny and betray our true nature.
It’s not until we take responsibility for our lives that we can take our full power back and use that power to become the conscious creators of our lives.
Once we take ownership of our experience, we become the author(ity) of our journey.
Nobody’s coming to save you my love, that sacred mission was always yours alone (and thank the Goddess for that).