Most of us have been raised with the basic understanding of what it means to be responsible. This will generally come from our parents, our friends’ parents, our grandparents and teachers. Hopefully that puts us in good stead for what comes next in life, entering the workforce and having a job. The baton is then passed to the employee and now fellow workmates will teach us what it means to be responsible at work.
What does that look like?
Having clean and styled hair, fresh makeup (if you are a woman), cleaned and ironed clothes (along with the appropriate attire for your workplace), arriving on time and generally, 15-30mins earlier to your actual start time, learning the skills and requirements of the job, adhering to workplace policy and procedures, adapting to the culture and adding to it in an affirming way, being respectful of fellow employees, taking direction and feedback from management, being a team player, sharing new ideas and teaching new employees your learnt skills.
What if responsibility was more than that, though? And the above was just the by-product, and in fact the bare minimum, of what true responsibility is?
What if true responsibility included how you prepared yourself the night before for your day at work, dealing with and clearing any/or all the stresses of the day just passed? Nurturing your body, completing your day and preparing for the next, rather than reaching for that glass of wine, beer or spirit to “take the edge off,” “forget about the day,” or “put the day behind you”? Maybe going for a walk, talking with a trusted friend or partner, and de-briefing the day and/or eating a light and nourishing meal instead?
What if true responsibility was in how you put your body and being to sleep at night, completely wound down and in an environment that supported deep rest? Instead of working from bed on emails, the Internet or social media, or falling asleep in front of the Television, Netflix and the like.
What if true responsibility was how you begin your day at home, before you even leave for the workplace? Rising early so there is plenty of time to get ready without any rush or anxiety, maybe completing some outstanding work from the day before or preparing for the day ahead? Going for a walk or visiting the gym, building a body that was ‘fit for life’s requirements’ and could enjoy the day without the need for stimulants like sugar, caffeine and salt. Having time to enjoy a shower or bath and dressing for work. Spending time with your loved ones, eating a healthy and supportive breakfast and preparing an equally yummy and supportive lunch box.
What if true responsibility involved how you conducted yourself in the workplace; not what tasks you completed, but how you went about completing them? That you were consciously present in all your movements so that you were able to bring complete focus and dedication to each task, along with a commitment to each and every task, not seeing any part as less, or more, important than the other.
What if true responsibility involved how you are in relationships? That you treated everyone as an equal from those less experienced than you, or more senior in their position and including those that had more or less tenure with the company. What if each person was equally accountable, regardless of their position? What if every single person pulled their weight, worked collaboratively without blame for another, nor apathy for the task at hand? Working with the understanding that every single person in a company is needed and without the full commitment and unity of all, no real success can be had.
What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?
If responsibility in the workplace was much more than ticking the boxes of our job requirements and turning up to work on time, and more about how we lived as a whole, then we can see that our home life, social life and work life is no different. In fact one impacts the other, and how we are in each area of life then impacts all the people in our lives.
One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond. That is, imagine what it is like for you when you have had a ‘bad day’ at work – you’re tired from the night before, have unresolved conflict with another, or are sick and run down from poor diet and lack of nutrition and so on and so on. How do you then interact with everyone you come in contact with? Now imagine, if most of us are having a bad day – how many more people get affected by this?
It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.
By Terri-Anne Connors, aged 40, Melbourne, VIC
Related Reading:
Taking responsibility at work to a whole new level
True Leadership & Teamwork – Talk to an Ant
Nature – Life – Responsibility
Words on Serge Benhayon 
Our responsibility is to live all the love that we are with the purpose to inspire others to equally live all the love that they are.
I felt I had a very good wind down routine but I have discovered there is always more to deepen and in this deepening I feel I’m building a beautiful relationship with my body, the stars and the multidimensionality of the Universe.
So I completely understand you Terri-Anne when you say
“What if true responsibility was in how you put your body and being to sleep at night, completely wound down and in an environment that supported deep rest? Instead of working from bed on emails, the Internet or social media, or falling asleep in front of the Television, Netflix and the like.”
The world is not sleeping properly and is this then the reflection that we are avoiding our relationship with the stars and the universe? Is it possible that in our sleep we can be reminded that we come from the stars and we will go back to them each and every one of us. To think that we as humans can out think the stars or the universe is as arrogant as it is false.
Responsibility offers us so much and when we start reflecting how to be responsible to others we get into purpose and thus accelerate others to become responsible and understand we are more than human by the Loving reflection we bring.
I recently had a ‘bad day’ and everyone around me knew I wasn’t myself and even told me so. It was great because we all knew the standard of presence that is normally within me and it wasn’t there that day. Rather than ignoring it it was pointed out to be addressed.
You make a great point about the impact we all have on one another, and how a lack of self care or taking great care of ourselves affects everything we do and everyone we meet. We are always having an effect, our choice is really only in the quality we affect others with.
A great reminder of what true responsibility actually is.
I love the depth you bring to the simple word ‘responsibility’. It is not a one dimensional word, something inked onto a page, but a living breathing movement that is constantly aware of its ripple effect.
Absolutely Lucy, and may I add expanding us in our evolution is a responsibility to the all or our essences / Souls.
Feels like the responsibility is towards everything and that would be Sacred to us! Or maybe we could say Sacredness is the responsibility for everything? So thank you Terri-Anne much to explore and deepen>>>.
I would say that how we live as individuals affects everyone. This is something that as yet isn’t taught as part of our education but it will as we reconnect to the fact that everything is energy as mentioned by Serge Benhayon “If everything is energy, therefore, everything is BECAUSE of energy” (Serge Benhayon, Esoteric Teachings & Revelations, p 200). We cannot escape from this truth but humanity is currently denying what we know to be true.
How we live before and after work determines the quality we bring to work.
This article shines brilliant light on the true meaning of responsibility.
Ticking a box to tick a box rather than because it is a confirmation and a celebration of a job truly well done, is a lost opportunity and everyone is at a loss. But when your whole body is doing a job and holds a joy and deep appreciation of all that one brings to the job (in terms of quality and care etc), then this has ripple effects all throughout the company. So much more happens around us than just the naked eye can see.
Ticking a box, resembles remote control living where we tick one box and go ‘Next’ without any true connection with what we’re doing. True responsibility means we live our work from inside out, it is not just what we do, but part of who we are and working with ‘joy and appreciation’.
We are all pieces of a larger puzzle that cannot complete itself unless all the pieces are present and cooperating and turned the correct (true) way.
Henrietta your comment really puzzled me. 🙂
“It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.” – and from that quality comes the knowing of exactly that which needs to be done, and an igniting of all around when it is done in that quality that feeds us all back.
Yes, the ‘to-do’ list changes to respond to what is needed on the day and the quality of how we do what we do.
“Working with the understanding that every single person in a company is needed and without the full commitment and unity of all, no real success can be had.” That is how I love to work and therefore I do my very best to be well prepared to not hold back an ounce of me and my qualities.
“What if true responsibility was in how you put your body and being to sleep at night, ” Taking responsibility right back to the detail. – responsibility needs to be in all our movements.
I love this blog – if everyone were to follow the suggestions here what a different world we would be living in.
Great question ‘What if true responsibility included how you prepared yourself the night before for your day at work, dealing with and clearing any/or all the stresses of the day just passed?’ What if indeed. And what if how we lived each day and prepared for this each night ahead had an impact on our week, our month, our year, our relationships and our health .. to name a few!
What I have noticed recently is how patient I am at work and how steady, I feel that this is because I have a steady night time and morning routine and because I chose to eat nourishing foods and drinks. How we choose to live affects us and those around us hugely.
This is so true. The ripple affect of all we do and how this literally affects not only our wellbeing but our whole environment. And in talking about our whole environment this is not just our home, our workplace, our street, our town its the world and the entire Universe. Now that’s a responsibility!
Terri-Anne, I can very much relate to this; ‘What if true responsibility was how you begin your day at home, before you even leave for the workplace? Rising early so there is plenty of time to get ready without any rush or anxiety,’ what I find is that if I go to bed early and wake early and have a gentle start to the day, then I am much more steady in my day at work. If there is any rush or anxiety then this affects how I am with those that I work with. I love taking care of myself and thus being able to take care of others – very simple and very lovely.
What you present here clearly indicates there’s no off time, that we cannot escape our responsibility no matter how hard we want to make it to be otherwise. We can fight it but seriously there’s no point, is there. By fighting we make it a struggle and overwhelm. When we make it about what we do we end up with an endless list of things to do, but if it was about the quality, it feels rather simple.
When we become aware of the impact we have on all the people in our lives we begin to become aware more deeply the responsibility we have towards ourselves. We recognise and acknowledge how our every move has an impact on the whole in one way or another.
What a wonderful article showing us all that everything is interrelated and that when we neglect on area we are actually being irresponsible.
It is easy to tick all the boxes and do the right thing but this will not make us responsible if we are not taking care of what quality of being we are offering to the world. Nowadays we can be seen as responsible (because we tick our boxes) even though we are doing it being angry, being exhausted, being stressed… and so on.
Being truly 100% responsible means being truly 100% responsible for our energetic state of being, i.e. the quality that we’re bringing and then reflecting out into the world, all of the time.
And this is not discussed because it is a level of responsibility and awareness that we are not willing to move. It is much easier to pretend we don’t know therefore don’t do anything about it.
Who knew our responsibility is to live by who we are in all aspects of our life.
This blog is loaded with rich content. It was very well versed and sectioned, and in the right structure could be a short course.
I have a question and pondering .. because most of us sit in positions that are not in management we therefore do not step into the responsibility of the role and think we are less. There is a lot in this i.e. if you pushed the limits of your role you would be pushing all others in their work role commitments also. There would come a point if you kept raising the standard you would either move up or move on depending on the work culture. Also, from my understanding, due to the excess nature of your commitment you have the capacity to know and manage what is being asked and called for no matter what position you worked in. Being fully responsible in your role no matter what comes with a lot of advantages.
Responsibility is always related to what are we willing to accept regarding us and the world.
When a job becomes the way to fit in, to tick the boxes or just to earn money, what do we actually delivering? It is no surprising that many feels stressed, exhausted and anxious because there is a constant striving for the outcomes but not a holding, not a nurturing way of being that allows the needed regeneration of the body. There is more to life than boring days at work and the excitment of the weekend and holidays, there is a life to be lived in full cause who we are, what we bring from our delicious presence is very unique and valuable. It is there to be claimed and delivered all the time.
These days I’m having very busy days at work. Listen and honoruing my body is supporting me very much to work with a new sense of lightness and ease. I feel more steady, committed and joyful everytime I don’t give my power to the stresses and pressures of the job. Finding my rhythm is opening me up a new way of being that feels very beautiful and nurturing. This choice makes me see what true responsibility is about.
And deepening will never stop.
There is no On and Off switch of responsibility. You though can choose: either step into your power of reflection of moving on or one of aligning to most of the people align to: comfort.We are all the time role models, no matter how mere the situation may look like. Do you have a switch or not is the question.
‘We are all the time role models’ That’s very true Stefanie, and is our responsibility to choose what we present in every step, action, movement…thanks for sharing, definitely the beauty that our absolut presence reflects is there to be embraced and claimed.
Being the real me in life is a loving work in progress. I can stumble over wanting to be seen in a certain way and living up to someone’s (or mine) expectation that is not actually true. Or living from these pictures about how I should be a friend/manager/daughter etc…
Cleaning up the kitchen at work is just as important as my actual job is.
I really like that Annelies. Even though you can be very purposeful in an environment you can still measure what is important and what not and see it more as a chore than part of the whole job. I will be even more aware of any kind of measuring after reading your comment.
“One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.” This level of responsibility used to scare me but not any more, in fact it is a joy to live this.
I’m with you on that one Elizabeth, I used to shrink if I sensed that I stood out but now I’m learning how to enjoy it and welcome it.
Everything in our life and how we are affects everything in life. Although on the surface it might seem like we live life in compartments, but really that is an illusion. We live one life, that’s it. Therefore the more care we bring into any aspect of our life we infuse through the rest.
It’s awesome how much our connection with our bodies, establishing and deepening a rhythm, can make such a profound difference to the quality of our work, to our colleagues and our workplace.
To weave that into everything we do would be a game changer.
We could all do with understanding a different level of responsibility, it brings so much more to our day than ticking the box when we arrive.
Once we know this to be true . . . “everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.” . . . we fully understand our responsibility in the world is to be all that we are.
Treating everyone as equal is part of our responsibility in the work place as is treating people with respect, when we take on responsibility we can’t cherry pick what we would like to be responsible for, and the quality of responsibility comes from the quality of our livingness.
When the meaning of true responsibility is fully understood, we realise that there is in fact no end point to where we begin and stop being responsible, as the quality in which one moment is lived is what we bring with us to the next moment. And so, the quality in which we brush our teeth, for example, is the quality that we embody and walks with us to the car, then to work, then to our relationships. When we do realise the impact we have in the world through which we move, responsibility becomes a joy and a beautiful awareness of the power we all hold to bring and live with the greatest integrity and love through our everyday living.
Our responsibility is to live with integrity 24/7 and your blog is a great reminder of that Terri-Anne.
A big part of workplace responsibility is to be all we can be at work, same as everywhere else.
The great thing about all that you have written here, is how all of this responsibly can actually lead to a more playful, caring and harmonious workplace.
Agreed Shami – true responsibility embraced and lived equates to living the joy and lightness of who we are, everywhere.
True responsibility to me, means caring: taking care of the details, of everything I come into contact with, of every interaction, movement and moment, to the best of my ability. It’s not about trying to make everything perfect, because that perfection then becomes a distraction that takes us away from focusing on the bigger picture, but it does feel like true responsibility is about quality: making sure we are always aware of the energetic quality that we’re in, and how this affects everything we do.
It is our responsibility to support ourselves in a way that our bodies are able to do the work that we do, for example in my job I am required to walk a lot therefore it is my responsibility to be fit enough to sustain long hours on my feet.
Yes one of my jobs requires me to be on my feet just about all day, and I am now feeling that I could treat my legs- and feet- a lot more lovingly and really appreciate how they hold me and support me during this time
Yes quality first.. For we have shown that in action only, no true settlement exists.. Hence no evolution.
A big responsibility at work is to enjoy work – that may not be easy or at times impossible but it is far more available than we may realise and sometimes simple changes can make a huge difference.
Learning that we are responsible for every moment of the day, how we wake how we put ourselves to bed and everything in-between would take responsibility to a whole new level, not just in the work place but in every part of our life
Yes how would it be if everyone truly loves their job because they feel great because they took a deep level of care for themselves and does not drag their feet to ‘just do it’? This would totally change the workplaces everywhere, it would change how the world feels.
All of what is mentioned here is a responsible employee. I would also add a vital key to glueing all that together would be appreciating as much as possible in each moment all that you do to be responsible. For without the confirmation of all that you bring it will be the same day repeating itself with a challenge that could knock you over. Holding your values firm in your body it is easy to come back to that known space.
Yes, once you confirm yourself, things fall into place and life is a lot more joyful.
So true, it is not our ‘normal’. However, until we make it our normal, that is just one person, or two people like you and me, then we will continue to perpetuate the belief that there is no such thing as energy.
And people can respond to energy – they experience it as much as everybody else. They may not be able to label it but responding is very normal.
Is work something we do to just tick the box and get the pay day? If so then we will not understand how we can be the change we want to see in our lives and in the world. Yet if we see that our work is an extension of how we live then we might be open to understanding the contribution we make when we embrace the small, seemingly unimportant jobs with equal importance.
Thank you Terri-Anne Connors. In one of my workplaces I always arrive about 30mins early to set up the space and prepare whatever needs doing but in another I get there just on time nearly every time. What if I were to go in early in this job too? It is something I have considered but not put into practise and I am feeling now that it would set me and the place up for the day. I have thought of cutting my hours down in this job but maybe what I need to do is actually increase them, and by bringing more attention to all the things you have mentioned here in your blog I can see my work there becoming much more enjoyable.
Yes Elaine, why do we make different choices, are we less committed? Or have the idea one is more important than the other? It is quite interesting to have a closer look and feel what is underneath the choices we make.
The quality in which we go about our every move in our day right up until we lay our head on the pillow is all paramount to our well-being and the well-being of everyone around us.
Responsibility in the workplace is every moment of every day showing our consistency of love, light and brotherhood. And absolutely dedication.
How we are with ourselves and the quality that we bring to each moment of our day in all that we do has an energetic ripple effect that flows out to others in either healing or harming, such is the responsibility that we all carry.
All of these items are true responsibilities and it is important that the process itself is enjoyable and rewarding and perfection is not part of the design.
Yes, we can do the tasks, but the quality of how we do them leaves the lasting imprint, and that’s the responsibility we all carry, how we are in what we do.
Imagine if parents truly understood the essence of responsibility that is there when having children. The implications and the ramifications are really so profound and life changing if, if we choose to acknowledge this amazing awareness that is possible.
What we have here is the potential to learn and discover what true responsibility is through our movements and relationships as they constantly reflect back what has been prepared.
It is beautiful to be connected to the all knowing who I am and my quality never changes, regardless of context and place.
`I once compartmentalized my life: home, work, play, displaying different personas depending on who I was with and where I was. That’s all changed now, I’m one and the same where-ever I am, no masks, simply and honestly me.
Yes, that is much more fun as switching roles is exhausting.
So true, there is much more at play in our interactions between others than what we see on the surface. We often don’t know what is going on for someone but we feel the impact or force of what they are in. We can not have an issue with one and not expect it to impact on all.
What you describe here shows that we have all that what truly supports us to live a steady and joyful life labelled as unimportant and insignificant or even boring but with that we have robbed ourselves of the fullness and joy life is (can be).
The thing is when we compartmentalise life and put more energy and focus into one particular area we can actually deplete ourselves and become overwhelmed with the most simplest of tasks in other areas.
It doesn’t work to consider life in parts – every part affects every other parts. It is very beautiful when we start taking baby steps in choosing to live with that awareness as we are basically choosing to say yes to the magnificence of what life is about.
What this blog teaches me is that responsibility is a continuous movement every moment of the day and not something you can do or be only when it suits you or the situation is asking for it.
Nicely put Nico. The picking and choosing keeps us in the illusion.
Yes, Julie, while we think we are responsible from our mind we are in an illusion as to my own experience my mind has never been able to be truly responsible as it wavers from one standard to the other whatever it suits best in its pursuit to have its pleasures in life.
When we understand that all life is simply energy, there are no walls or divisions, it is easy to see how we are in one pocket affects the All. There is only ‘one life’ understanding and committing to this is true responsibility.
Yes Kehinde, life has no walls or divisions and all is one life, not only that of ours personally but too with all the people we live on this planet, with nature and the planet and the stars. So yes we have a responsibility to the grander whole we are part of as we are no individuals living on our own.
Terri-Ann you’ve produced a beautiful template for a job description, one that expresses inner qualities and not simply tasks to be accomplished.
When we can let go of the old dogma’s about work being a necessity to earn money and a place where you preferably not want to be, continuous longing for the next holiday or final retirement, we will find a place where we can prosper and evolve. A place where we can learn how it is to work collectively and that the individual contribution of each employee matters, will it be the MD, CEO or the janitor. All are equally important and actually just jobs to make everything flowing in the energy we collectively bring to it and make up the whole.
“What if true responsibility was in how you put your body and being to sleep at night” I would love this to be in the job contact – if we are irresponsible and go out and get drunk the night before work we can literally bring the whole office down with the energy we come in with.
I love how true responsibility is beautifully interwoven into all facets of our daily living. It has also completely turned “responsibility,” on it’s head because it is no longer something that is seen to be hard or only done by adults, it is a part of everyone’e everyday living and it can be fun and a great way to deepen our relationships forevermore.
Our path of developing true responsibility knows no end, it is a continual expansion of understanding. That path requires we give ourselves the space to lovingly develop on this path, not an ounce of self-criticism allowed.
Reading this reminds me of the opportunity we all have to be role models for one another; to inspire with the way that we are at work, how we communicate with everyone, the quality and focus that we bring to whatever task it is at hand and how we care for ourselves. And that this is something that happens not just in the workplace but in all areas of our life, with how we are in one area feeding into the next.
Being responsible means breathing our own breath and not the emotions, pictures, confusion, ideals or beliefs that we are surrounded by and may still have lurking in our bodies. Being responsible means we let our hearts and bodies lead the way and inform our thinking. Being responsible means that we express honestly if not truthfully and we allow love to be our foundation. It is an ongoing process and requires our conscious presence whatever space we are in, home, work or play for in truth there is no delineation and we can bring ourselves in our fullness to all areas and as we do so we see that one supports the other because in truth it is us supporting ourselves to live who we truly are.
As a society we tend to equate responsibility to doing things like paying our bills, eating healthy and going to work on time. But this is not what responsibility is at all if a true review of what this means is considered…
“What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?” And to every area of our lives? Responsibility is the new black.
“What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?” how amazing to know this is how worthy I am, bringing all of me is true service for mankind.
Responsibility in the workplace starts with self, as the more we build a foundation of self-acceptance and care the more this quality is expressed in everything that we do, so work then becomes something that is no longer done as an obligation but something that gives back to us rejuvenating our bodies when there is purpose in what we do.
“What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?” This is a fascinating notion to sit with, to explore, to see what pictures, ideals/beliefs come into play that stop you from being the real you at work, and bringing your all to each moment.
Responsibility in the workplace is no different to the responsibility we have in life itself. If we go about our day half-baked as it were, as a result of our lifestyle choices, we are not bringing the full us to the day. And when we do this at work, it is the same thing. The responsibility we ultimately have is to be the full us, and to bring this to others.
Actually you can say that life is one continuous, evolving from one moment into the next and that everything we do in any moment is the foundation for the next. If we can understand that this is how life unfolds itself to us, as a continuous learning and development from one moment into the other there comes a responsibility to life that is empowering not only our whole being but also how we will live in our societies as a whole.
Is having clean hair and make up responsible if we are treating others abusively .. in any way or go into jealously and comparison? Or make things about profit rather than people. As you say true responsibility in being how you are in all of our relationships across the board as well as life is still something I am still very much learning.
Thank you. There are still areas in my life that don’t flow so well and I can see that I am really not getting enough support with those and could ask for help more often instead of thinking I have to do it on my own – also supporting myself by being more diligent and deeply caring of myself.
True responsibility is making space for all that needs to be taken care of, and trusting that there is always space for whatever needs to be done. It involves a surrender to who we are, an allowing of ourselves to live as we naturally are, and asking for support when we need it. Responsibility isn’t about trying to take on the world by ourselves – we are endlessly supported, when we ask for it and allow it.
The only way that our current systems are going to change is if we accept our responsibility to live the change that we want.
‘What if true responsibility involved how you are in relationships?’ With true responsibility in our relationships there would be no gossip anymore and we would appreciate one another for the quality we bring and we would pull each other up when needed. There would be no competition and yes I could go on and on but basically when love rules everything changes and we’ll work together as equal human beings.
When we are responsible at work teamwork becomes must more inspiring and enjoyable especially if others are taking up their own responsibility.
‘One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.’ Deepening our awareness and truly considering this means is very sobering, but also carries the joy of knowing the amazing opportunities we have to inspire and imprint.
mmm this is still one I do! ..’Instead of working from bed on emails.’ So as others have shared in comments true responsibility is actually deeply caring and loving ourselves knowing that how we are and how we live with ourselves in every single way is then a quality in which we bring to every other person and task in and throughout our every day.
Your description of a deeper level of responsibility for going to work makes total sense, as it would be hard to do all of the generic “responsible” things at work if we weren’t allowing ourselves to clear at home before and after work, and living in a way which is caring and nururing for ourselves.
Responsibility is limitless and is only capped by the conditions we place upon ourselves and our willingness to bring our all.
Bringing the real me has been a huge undertaking when compared to the shadow of my former self that I used to live with. What is truly amazing is how much deeper that continues to get, and with a limitless depth that calls me and inspires me further.
Yes very much so as you say Terri-Anne, and then if we don’t want to be responsible we have to change the meaning of the word responsibility to just being the things we do and not the quality we are bringing to everything.
One may wonder just how many other words we have conveniently changed the meanings of within society to suit our irresponsible ways.
When you ask us to imagine what it would be like if we knew everyone was struggling with unresolved stuff and how that might affect everyone, it’s easy because we’re all subject to that all the time, we’re just not aware of it because it’s so accepted. Imagine normal meant the opposite? Why is that such a foreign concept to us?
This highlights 2 things; firstly the extent to which true responsibility can offer evolution and relationships within the workplace, and secondly, it highlights how some of the basic fundamentals are not being seen in the workplace. And yet I love what you share – could the basic stuff be a by-product of true responsibility. And is it possible that as we haven’t really felt what true responsibility is, we let things slip away?
I completely agree with this blog and continue to refine how I live as every part affects every other aspect of my life. Sadly though I see on a daily basis the belief that work is separate from all other parts and as such everything that is not about the action/job is disregarded, especially the being and body performing the task.
It is great to appreciate and to accept that everything is connected and our working day cannot be separated from our living way at all other times. Our investment in living who we are will be felt by all others and will serve to inspire, unify and reflect a true way forth for all/
A true job interview would start with the applicant talking about his/her life outside of work because it says much about the person. It is interesting though, that these things are not usual part of it because this is socially accepted as being ‘a private matter’, one that is of ‘no incumbency for the job’. Yet, this is not true at all. Beliefs and labels like this one only helps us to live in a way where we can protect lifestyles that are not only deeply self-harming but also that have deleterious effects in terms of responsibility at work the day after. So, employers have two choices: be irresponsible and play ball with such accepted social beliefs and later have to cope with irresponsibility or, be responsible and later enjoy the benefits of responsibility.
Responsibility is a series of movements made to bring quality to our daily living and the true support and love for ourselves and our workmates is then felt in every move we make everyday not just at work but in every moment. Now that’s pretty cool, as we are then the CEO’s of our own companies i.e our bodies and we have the responsibility only to ourselves to bring to understanding, respect and love from our connection to who we are.
It seems that we can look good on the surface with say the perfect clothes, hair and makeup, turn up on time and act interested in our job, and generally that is all that is required, but like this blog is offering maybe there is more of us that we can bring to any situation. What is considered the ‘Norm’ is short changing us and from my experience people are finding that difficult these days, and as an example not using their mobile phones to go onto social media during work hours – this has resulted in some firms banning mobile phones at work.
It is easy to compartmentalise life and believe that what we do at home does not affect us at work but really that is impossible and everything we do or choose in our so called ‘private lives’ has an impact on our ‘public lives’ so really it is all one life.
One life Andrew, it makes such a difference than working hard to be the chameleon and trying to remember what colour I’m going to wear today.
Responsibility takes on its true form when we introduce the science and religion of energy – that we are all connected, and that everything we do effects everyone else, whether we are aware of it or not.
I think responsibility is something we can continually develop – in the smallest of details of how we care for ourself and others and how we express ourselves, it’s something we can keep unfolding and become more aware of and the impact that this has on everyone around us.
Thank you Terri-Anne for your sharing. From what I have experienced in the workplace over many years is as you say that we need to be self aware first and that is part of the “responsibility in the Workplace” that you speak of.
True responsibility is an all encompassing awareness that every facet of our life contributes to the overall equation of quality. Thus how we live at home feeds the quality of how we work, and vice versa, our quality of work feeds the quality of how we live at home. Then there is the quality of how we drive ourselves in our car to and from work also contributes to how we are in both places and so on…. How can they not – it is all one life.
Love the way this zooms out, looking wider than just the task at hand, but the quality that we bring to it.
Each time I read this article and the simplicity of what it shares. I stop and take stock of how we give such little credence to ‘how’ we do things, yet it’s is in this ‘how’ that responsibility shines its truth.
Such a great Article. Imagine if we were taught this responsibility from a young age. So by the time we are 15 and about to start our first job, we already have an understanding of how best to go about it.
Nothing escapes if we want to bring in a responsibility factor to any part of our everyday life. It is not a part time exercise, true responsibility considers the interconnectedness of the all. I don’t know exactly who, what and how the way I brush my teeth would be affecting, but it does. Everything has consequences, we are living amidst the aftermath of what has been lived before.
Indeed Terri Anne, Serge Benhayon has taught about ‘one life’ and how the all impacts the way we move and express; any pockets of irresponsibility creates a drag on the others, although keeping equal awareness of each aspect and not letting a ball drop can be challenging; the feedback within the body as we commit to life is immensely confirming.
I can feel a real engaging in life when you talk about true responsibility. Also, I feel a greater understanding that we all have an effect on others and situations, even when we abdicate our responsibility to engage or be aware.
“One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond”.
Thus, as you have pointed out Terri-Anne, our responsibility is to bring love. truth, wisdom and our true selves to the workplace; and in fact to all aspects of our lives.
“”What if true responsibility involved how you conducted yourself in the workplace; not what tasks you completed, but how you went about completing them?” We are constantly being given targets at work to bring in more money for the company /charity. This is where the emphasis is and much is abandoned in the process of trying to comply to these goals. Again it is the quantity before quality focus but this does not bring harmony to the workforce, it brings competition, stress and rushing through things and the subsequent search for relief. This way of living is very tiring and wears us out. How about our responsibility be with us first, with people first, with looking after ourselves and allowing for a steady approach that has the seed of joy in every moment not reserved for ‘out’ moments or the end of the day.
There are so many reflections in our lives for true responsibility and in fact irresponsibility as we grow up as you have illustrated here. So many that actually taking responsibility for our choices should be as important as breathing.
‘It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.’ We are so used to compartmentalise our life that we allow to go in different kind of behaviours or call it, energy, depending on where we are, or the role we are in. I know within it is about one life, living one quality in my movements where ever I go and with ups and down I am applying this knowing in my day.
Responsibility goes so much further than our current understanding. I feel it will be a long time until we as a world wide society begin to know what true responsibility looks like. Thank God we have role models leading the way in an otherwise very lost world.
Yes how we are with ourselves definitely radiates out to everyone we come into contact with. This is where we can be truly accountable for who we are and what we bring.
There is a beautiful sense of accountability in your description of responsibility and to me the two go hand in hand. The more responsible we are the more accountable we are for all aspects of our life..
Awesome questions to deeply ponder about life. What if responsibility is not about any pictures but truly feeling our every moment and surrendering to it. What if there are also no pictures of how to feel, but we simply do, no matter how we want not to, we still do.
Ahhh true responsibility in the workplace … how profound…and if we apply this to everything …. Parenting, teaching, being an employer… this list goes on we have the fast track to evolution as a species
What if true responsibility was allowing people to be?
We think we get away with surface responsibility, looking the part and doing good only because we compare that to people living obvious irresponsibility, like being unemployed, stealing, outwardly harming others etc. But both situations are actually irresponsible by not taking energy and the quality in which we live in account.
True responsibility in the work place is just allowing ourselves to be all of who we are, for it is only then that we can offer a reflection of trust that the workplace can be full of joy and offer evolution for all.
I find a consistent sleep routine and wind down really supports me in my being for the next day, it forms a great foundation for each day.
So true Ruth for when I spend those evenings trying to squeeze in all I can until a certain time and then practically skid into bed I definitely am not prepared for a quality slumber. That preparatory wind down makes all the difference.
Yes, responsibility is so much more than fulfilling a contractual obligation. It’s an all day, everyday, moment-to-moment Livingness.
Agreed Victoria and through this responsibility our commitment to life deepens and in turn so does our life force, our true purpose.
I always thought In my workplace I have the responsibility to be there and do my work to the best of my abilities but I was not aware many years ago what impact on my work it has the way I am at home and take care for myself.
It is an never ending process refining our self care and self love, our most important task involving self responsibility.
“Everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond ” – this really does bring home the responsibility that we have all of the time.
Here with how you have presented responsibility I feel simply means loving ourselves more and in doing so we would love others more as it would have a natural ripple affect. Rarely have I ever seen the word responsibility and love together. As others have shared in the comments mostly responsibility is seen as a burden or .. we are happy to be responsible in one part of our lives but not the other parts so not living this consistently.
Yes Vicky, there is a compartmentalising of responsibility depending on how much we can ‘cope’ with. I get the sense this comes from wanting to be accepted and therefore we compromise from an early age what we know to be true. At that point, we struggle to take responsibility because it would mean we may no longer be accepted and that is a life-threatening situation for far too many.
Gosh this blog would be great to be given to everyone when then first started their new job, it should be a must just like the job description and contract.
Indeed Samantha a blueprint that takes responsibility to another level and at its basis, puts people and their wellbeing first.
Something that came to mind reading this is considering just what we think of as caring and nurturing and whether it is truly caring or nurturing for us – such as what we do to switch off or wind-down and whether it actually depletes us more or genuinely gives us an opportunity to re-connect or regenerate ready for the next moment…
Responsibility is the rhythmical movements created in our day and night. Without this flow the quality of our movements is diminished and the heavy burden of rush and anxiety sets in naturally taking us away from the constant flow and clarity found in our choice to live responsibly. The beauty is though that we can always change the flow of our movements in one simple choice and say yes to responsibility again.
What if the notion of responsibility we grow up with only prepares us for so much? What if there is a whole new level we can take our life to, if we get truthful about what responsibility is and what it means?
Loved your blog Terri-Anne, taking responsibility for ourselves and understanding that the quality we live is reflected in everything we do, really reveals that we can’t switch off, check out and have down time without it effecting everything our quality and everything else that we do.
Preparing for the following day the day before or days before depending on what it is is so supportive to myself and others – the foundation is set in place for a perfect start to the day.
‘What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?’ What an amazing world we would be living in if we each chose this way of living.
True responsibility is not like a garment we put on for certain occasions and then take off at the first available opportunity. Energetic responsibility is forever ongoing and keeps growing and expanding, at the same pace as our livingness and naturally so.
Treating everyone as equals isn’t something the corporate world has or can say it recognises. Organisations and most workplaces, adopt a hierarchy that historically is in place so that you can keep order, keep people largely in a lot of irresponsibility. This just perpetuates that feeling that we need to have a manager and levels of management in order for businesses to run. But does this not just foster more irresponsibility? Creating an environment and culture in most organisations for people to just be told and do what they are told, instead of feeling and working to purpose. There is a lot for us to expand into in corporate organisations.
Feeling responsible for the actions that we live in the knowing that we leave a trail of love. If this is the way we feel to live, this love is felt by all those who follow or are in the presence of what has been done by us. If this is true, could this be a possible answer to why Leonardo Da-Vinci’s paintings leave such an imprint which is still felt to this day, because they were done in love? To expand this even more, imagine if everyone lived this level of responsibility, how amazing would the world we all live in be and what would it look like?
There are many levels of responsibility, each to be celebrated in its own way, but the ultimate understanding of responsibility is that everything also comes with energy and this is the depth and capacity we have in taking responsibility to its true meaning – that of energetically being fully responsible so that all we do does not impose in any way what so ever on anyone else, and that the full integrity of who we are is expressed in everything that we do, be it a breath we breath in or out, or a paper we publish or the way we walk down the street. Amazing really what we are capable of…and yet struggle sometimes to put into lived practice.
The way we move, which includes our walk, what we say and the thoughts we have, in a workplace either speaks the truth or confirms the lies.
Spot on Vicky – could not have been said in a more succinct way!
Placing equal importance in all that we do especially the quality that we move is another whole level of responsibility that we can take in life.
Terri-Anne it is great what you say “It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.” I completely agree, it really is how we are with ourselves that reflects and impacts on others. We have a responsibility with ourselves.
Hmmm! When one randomly picks the fourth blog in a row to comment on and it 4 in a row on responsibility, you can certainly feel that there is a message that is there to be read! Responsibility…. It is VERY far-reaching.
“…What if true responsibility was how you begin your day at home, before you even leave for the workplace?..” Its quite a study to peel back the layers of where responsibility begins… it becomes apparent that it is never ending…
What a cracker of a blog Terri-Anne, so well delivered and so much to ponder on in what true responsibility looks like in the work-place. Thank-you for sharing.
‘What if true responsibility was how you begin your day at home, before you even leave for the workplace?’ Imagine if every job spec had this woven into it….it would certainly give us all a stop moment to consider what exactly it is that we bring to work with us each day.
Yes, we take much more to our workplace that just our work bags. Every thought we have allowed, every movement, every word spoken and all the choices in between come with us into the workplace. Then we sit there or do whatever we have to do and feel all that every person has been choosing. There is much more going on in the workplace than it can appear.
I work in a large global organisation, where there are varying degrees of responsibility shown on a day to day basis. Some of it is very obvious, the way people responsibly turn up on time to work, sometimes that is extended to arriving at meetings on time, through to responsibilities of some individuals in managing large divisions and people. However there is a level of responsibility that isn’t quite there, that is to each other and treating each other with love and respect. There is a lot that goes on that is unspoken and quite insidious, like speaking badly about people behind their back. Not being respectful and understanding. These are all ways that undermine creating an environment where responsibility reigns.
A stunning expansion of what we know responsibility to be and an inspiring call to step up to and embrace it.
For me I feel a big part of responsibility is not judging another or telling them what to do.
In accepting responsibility and in wielding it wisely we have the power to change the world into a better place in which we all can prosper and evolve.
We rarely consider the impact a bad day has on the people around us but if we stop to consider it, we know, because more than likely we have been on the receiving end of someone else’s bad day. By putting it into a bigger picture, of what would it be like if many more were having a bad day all at the same time we can see the responsibility we all have to own our own consequences, to be more responsible for our waste! Almost as if our waste poisoned the earth…now there’s a thought.
And if the shoe was on the other foot, a big foot for the “bigger picture,” even better let’s make it a movie and we considered the impact of a truly loving day on people. What if we all had a completely loving day, one where we greeted everyone with total joy and harmony and this was normal so at this level all that was expressed was filled with love so that a stillness was simply felt and everyone felt the responsibility to hold the joy, love, harmony and stillness. If everyone was in their own way being fully responsible to the best of their ability, which eliminates comparison and jealousy leaving space for true responsibility and a deepening level of love etc. could this be the change or shift we are all so desperately looking for!
Yes Lucy it is the ultimate responsibility and a bitter pill to swallow for most but everything and I mean everything that is going on in the world we have contributed in one way or another whether we like it or not.
So true, responsibility starts at home from the toilet we leave in a mess, to the hotel room we leave in chaos, to the rubbish we pollute the earth with, and the worst thing to be irresponsible with is our language, which can be so sloppy. Careless words takes care of no one but contaminates on more levels that we are willing to admit. Then imagine if we turned everything around and were responsible with the simple things in life how amazing would we feel. Coming home to a completely different environment that was cleaned with the greatest responsibility and integrity, would change how we felt about our-self. Could our language also change how we feel about our-self if we were responsible and eliminated all critique, judgment and condemnation?
That can be so overwhelming and yet it can be seen as such an opportunity to re-imprint and contribute in a positive way, laying the foundation for more love.
There is a risk here that the world responsibility is associated with seriousness, with burden, and with a fervent desire to do good. When one defines responsibility like this it gives cause for us to go into shame or guilt when we do not live up to our own expectations. But that in itself is a trap, and one the catholics especially have fallen for, where the belief is cast that we are in essence sinners and must atone for our wrong ways. The truth, however, is that there is no such thing as atonement for past wrongs. There is however, true healing, which in essence is the process of realisation of the consequences that ensue for any given action. Part of the process is called karma. And so karma is not so much a punishment bestowed upon us by a vengeful God but rather a law of simple cause and effect. This is important, for one then begins to realise that there is no need to be hard on oneself. Life is instead a learning about the application of free will, and the consequences that ensue as a result of the choices you make. In that, one learns what true responsibility is. It is simply the ever deepening understanding of the consequences of our actions. And as your understanding of how life plays out in that regard deepens, so does your understanding of just what true responsibility actually entails and what is required for you to play your part to ensure not just that no harm is bestowed upon the world around you, but that you assist in your own little way in the expansion of all and sundry – that your actions contribute to the harmony of the entire world, from the flight of the humble bee, to the way the stars track across the heavens.
Love what you have shared Adam, and could this add to what you have so eloquently expanded. That there is a universal responsibility to the great all and that as part of the macrocosm our actions come down to the microcosm that is presented to each of us daily. So individually with complete responsibility to the best of our ability according to our understanding of the universal laws, which we can never escape, our role is one of bringing a greater awareness that expands universal harmony collectively!
Thank you for sharing the simplicity of true responsibility: making sure that our actions are not harming, and knowing that they contribute to the all – from the micro to the macro. Nothing is left out, every detail contributes to the whole.
When we consider every detail as a valuable piece that contributes to the whole jigsaw puzzle of human life, how could we not begin to appreciate how much each and every detail matters.
What I can feel in reading this is that the initial examples about responsibility are all about ‘self’ whereas what is presented here is responsibility as a reflection to others. What a very awesome way to re-look at this. When I shift what responsibility stands for and see that I am a reflection to others, then I see there is so much more purpose in being responsible. It supports every corner in how I am living and this blows away the false belief that if we only put ourselves first we are doing the right thing. When in fact so much more comes back to us if we take self out of the picture.
Yes, I appreciate the moment I get myself out of the way, the moment I lose my ego, is the moment I step up in my responsibility to others – and become less intense to boot!
One point really ‘caught my eye ‘ here… treating everyone as equal. If we feel into this we can see how, for most people, there is a strata of relationship dependent on so many things… can this person help me, how do I compare etc etc. Imagine if we all related from the true spark.
One of our perils is seeing what others are doing wrong while missing where we need to take, sometimes urgent, action ourselves. This is one of the differences between being right and being true and supportive of ourselves.
And also comparing ourselves with others who aren’t living responsibly and believing we are better because in one area we are responsible, keeps us in the illusion that there is nothing for us to pay attention to.
“It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.”
Amazing blog Terri-Anne that brilliantly details a whole new benchmark for lived responsibility.
Its a work in progress for me, routing out pockets of irresponsibility, switch off moments, where i just want to take a break, check out with Facebook or indulge in complications!
There are no off moments, time out or off switches.. Everything we do is interconnected and felt, every thought, word and action affects the quality of the whole. Starting to become aware of this and act on it is responsibility to me.
To be every inch of my true self and not sway from that, is my great responsibility.
The opposite of true responsibility is compartmentalising life. I remember when I first went into nursing I had the false belief that how I was at work had nothing to do with how I was at home. In fact it was my business what I did in my free time. However 20 years on going back to nursing I can feel how important it is to live in a way that supports my body and has integrity, so that when I care for sick people they get to feel in my being what it is to be responsible for my health. Too few health professionals live like this and therefore do not offer their clients a true role model.
Thank you Terri-Anne for bringing responsibility back to its true sense. It is in what we do, think and live that true responsibility lives. It is so much more than taking responsibility for what is needed to be done.
Learning about responsibility in life is perhaps one of our greatest lessons and with it comes so much love.
Indeed Shami, responsibility at this level is a benchmark, from which we can sense and grow the immensity of our natural potential.
The responsibility I have for work is a holding that is developing towards being unwavering. By that I mean my time away from work and how I treat myself is known as part of being at work the next day. This time away from work is where I rebuild, nurture and develop so all of me can be taken to the workplace in an ever expanding development.
That is true, it can make work very joyful to live that way without taking anything from the quality and enjoyment of the rest of our day.
Responsibility in the workplace is simply choosing the right source of energy and aligning through our movements to that which will benefit the all, as there is nothing too small that we do that can offer a true reflection for another to be inspired to be more.
I have noticed that once you start being aware of and incorporate responsibility into your day, very gradually the scope of what it holds becomes vast, it’s infinite in what it incorporates and includes.
Working for God would be the only job you could never be fired from for messing up, it’s expected and encouraged as part of our apprenticeship.
“What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?” . . . This would mean that we would have to begin to know ourselves in a whole new way as we are not who we think we are. We would need to reconnect to our very essence and get to know how to move and operate from there rather than being dictated to by our heads. This would be mean not holding back, it would mean feeling everything and acting in accordance to that feeling without judgment or sympathy, it would mean discerning energies and reading where someone is coming from, it would mean understanding another instead of taking things personally. It would be the end of competition and comparison for us as we would understand the damage this brings; in short it would be allowing our self to shine in all our glory for all to see. This would change everything.
This blog is very much raising the bar on responsibility. It is indeed much more than just adhering to our task. We are asked to be more in every moment working on this is our main responsibility, and thus when we let ourselves slip and don’t adhere to this evolution we feel it and see what happened without judgement, and grow from the learning appreciating our commitment to be in life and learn.
Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine have shown me how to be ‘fit for life’ in the truest sense of the words.
This is a great reflection on what quality versus quantity brings.
Yes, agreed Terri-Anne true responsibility is the quality we move in that then becomes the quality of our every thought, word and action after that. The domino effect happens both ways – if we are moving in the quality that is aligned with love and light nothing can touch us as our movements prepared us to be able face and handle anything . . but if we are strung out, hung over, overwhelmed and/or ill prepared for the day, rushing and stressed at running late we are already exhausted and are exhausting for others to have to deal with before the day even begins.
“everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.” This is very important to ponder on more deeply. For what is valued ordinarily is the amount of work completed. So long as the job is done nothing matters. But that’s not true, how we do our job matters more that the output, for it influences the output, but it also influences everything in between and everyone along the way as as said, and beyond.
The biggest responsibility in the workplace is to express love and to receive love – that has a lot of consequences in our actions as they will have a new quality and in how we receive those around us as they will have more opportunities to be loving towards us.
“One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.”
When I get touched by the loving movement of others it inspires me to go deeper with my own movements of love.
It is interesting to consider that having my thoughts still caught up in the day which has passed or in the day still to come is actually irresponsible because this means that I am not present in what I am doing or aware of what is required by those around me at that time because I am distracted by what has or has yet to be – thus missing out on what is being called for in that moment – so everyone misses out when I am not present.
On the other hand we have enormous momentum to be that way and it is quite natural to spend a substantial amount of time developing conscious presence, especially as this is very rewarding.
Responsibility used to be a dreaded word for my mind who went into the burden of the word, not truly feeling the truth of it. Now to me, responsibility is full of love and opens everything up to so much more.
I am loving reading these blogs on responsibility. What a great way to begin.. and end the day!
What if when we begin to live responsibly, we realise how truly simple and easy life can be and in that we realise that there is more to life than just what we see, touch, taste, smell and hear? That life is more about the quality of how we live than just about the doing and that such a quality is worth more than the latest gadget, perk, financial bonus or fame could ever offer on their own? Is there too much to see, and be aware of when we are living true responsibility than most just do not want to be aware of?
Each time I read this article, l celebrate it has been written. The absolute simplicity of living with a quality is revealed to us when we see our light is needed in this world and that we go to work not for ourselves, but for everyone else.
There is a great beauty in true energetic responsibility whereby we are all honoured equally, there is no one who is more or less important than another and our actions become about serving us all rather than just for self or a select few.
Part of the reason we do not appreciate the interconnectedness of us all is that deep down we know that every thought, word, action on our behalf has an effect, be that positive or negative, on the whole that we are a part of. Thus, we take great effort to delineate ourselves as being separate from each other and then under the belief of ‘each to their own’ allow a great evil to run us. This is how we have become so divided and so reckless as a human race and why we live in such tension and misery – because it hurts us deeply to not live the love that we are and through this feel our true Oneness.
So often in life we think that if we are ticking the boxes and doing everything we are supposed to, that we have done our job. This can be in a workplace, with parenting in the home etc. We can do what is required of us on the physical level and think we have done our job. But this way of living is more about exisiting. Living encompasses so much more.
Thank you Terri-Anne for highlighting that true responsibility comes from being the true you and bringing all of you to everything you do at home and in the workplace, knowing that the energy that you live with affects those close to you and afar.
Life is a continual cycle and so what we do one day, affects the next. Such is the cycle of responsibility.
Absolutely Terri-Anne, I was just feeling and pondering on my day.. Feeling quite tired after my first day of my new job/work.. As we know much can take our attention on a first day like this. But I also, when I look back at my day, realize how i had still bits during the day where I spend more energy than I had; being nice/polite and making sure I was being assessed well by people around – actually quite exhausting ! So I learned, I do not have to put up and try to be something or good, but just be! And this will make sure I will keep more in line with my energy and movements that support myself and so my environment. Time to let go what people think of me and or wanting to be liked – ouch, but better feeling it now than exhausting myself any further. One day of that is enough. Back to just being me no matter what people might think.
What you have written about responsibility Terri-Anne is so important as I can feel the ripple effect that this level of living in a responsible way is seeing a platform for us all to benefit from. True responsibility like true love is forever expanding in our consciousness and taking us deeper within to connect to our deeper inner essence and thus bringing a stillness and joy that is felt by us, and everyone we come in connection with. Then our lives become about ‘the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do,’ so this becomes true service, and as a humble student of our-self I feel this simply being responsible by focusing on this connection. How amazing it feels to be part of a body of Students, Students of The Way of The Livingness who are working to the best of our ability to be fully responsible in every corner of our lives so that all humanity benefits.
How much will the output of companies grow when we are all living as responsibly as you show us in your examples Terri-Anne? Starting with true care for ourselves, we will be healthier, well rested and bring our focus of our connection with our bodies to our work. This builds a very steady foundation to live our lives.
How we align our world and the way we work, becomes our new normal way of living. Work is for many, including me for years; inconsistent relationships with just about everyone and thing too, and trying to avoid responsibility at every opportunity. Why can’t we be all that we are at work? I have found we can be responsible and create relationships with others and make work just part of being ourselves everywhere and every day.
So true Steve and the knock-on affect is then into every relationship so it expands beyond just our work or as you say, ‘make work just part of being ourselves everywhere and every day.’
As we ask individuals to be more responsible at work, its interesting how we first start with the outside responsibilities and the tasks of what has and has not got to be done. When we turn that on its head and focus on our quality and the quality of all our movements then we see some real changes take place without the control that we often have to put in to meet societies appearances.
We can certainly deepen our responsibility in how we live in order to bring more of our true essence to work family and others. Then being prepared for sleep, work and other things can be so joyful.
I like this notion that responsibility can actually be in the small and simple acts of self-care.
And I love the way you’ve expressed this Shami.
How we are with ourselves is at the core of everything we do, hence why it can be troublesome to identify ourselves with behaviours and personality traits that are not a true representation of everything we know love to be in our hearts.
The simplicity of your last paragraph lands a total nugget of wisdom – it is the quality in how we do everything not the what we do in itself – which underpins the beauty of embracing responsibility with open arms.
This kind of responsibility is far from most workplaces where the most common priority are numbers, balance sheets and profit and the lines can become blurred regarding the integrity with which it is achieved.
I love this broader approach to responsibility, it reminds me of what a dear friend shared with me yesterday, his words were “Sarah remember everything is one life” This makes sense for if you make every element equally important in life, then no part gets left behind. There is no point being a top notch worker but a lousy house mate or being a responsible mother but a flaky colleague. When we open ourselves up to the true meaning of responsibility, we might find it doesn’t belong in a box, its multidimensional, it’s everywhere.
Great comment Sarah, true responsibility is in every moment and yes I agree it’s everywhere.
Our concept of responsibility tends to be laden with beliefs about what we should do to achieve a result but even if we are practically responsible and tick all the boxes we are not being truly responsible if we do it with any sense of should or must or even out of habit. What matters is the energy we do things in because this affects the quality of what we do. When a meal is lovingly prepared, it is so much easier to digest than if it was cooked to tick the box of providing dinner. Everything we do affects everyone and if we live with this awareness we will start to become truly responsible.
Responsibility can feel like such a loaded word as we try to avoid it as much as possible. But what if being responsible was just about being yourself in everything you did…that doesn’t seem too big a deal. I wonder why we make it so?
Conflict has become the norm in my workplace and when we manage to get through a day without any people are pleasantly surprised. So much of the general irritation is caused by the lack of resources people have left to deal with minor things at work because they are already depleted by what is happening at home.
When we live responsibility and apply consistency everything becomes naturally ordered and so much easier.
How I behave when at home impacts on the workplace also. We can no longer get away with behaving well at work if our private life is a mess.
‘and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do,’ sets the platform or foundation that underpins our whole day so that responsibility becomes part of our Livingness and a joy-full way, that is inclusive of every aspect of our lives.
I so agree with you that true responsibility lies in the quality that we do everything in, our beingness, not what we do. We are human beings after all, not human doings.
Everyone would benefit if we made work about meeting another equally and appreciating what they do bring. This way, they would be coming from a want to attitude instead of a have to attitude.
To focus on the quality I bring in connection to me to my work is very, very different to the thinking ahead and the feeling of ‘can’t wait to get the job done so I can put my feet up’ yet living in the raciness and drive is all too common but does it make sense I mean, real sense, when we’re rushing one minute to numb ourselves the next? Recently I have been feeling when I go into anxiousness and raciness more clearly in my day, the feeling that I need to get somewhere and quickly at that but as I stop and feel where I am at it is not long before I let it go and bring myself back. It is work in progress but a commitment I choose as I allow myself to feel the impact of what living in raciness does to my body.
“…What if true responsibility included how you prepared yourself the night before for your day at work, dealing with and clearing any/or all the stresses of the day just passed? Nurturing your body, completing your day and preparing for the next…” This certainly establishes a great momentum to begin each and every day.
This should be part of every work-place induction for new employees (and as a presentation for the existing ones).
Living out our responsibility in all areas of life will energise us beyond any the realms of any stimulant or nervous-system-activator.
Working with responsibility and integrity brings a whole new relationship with every aspect of how and why I work. I never imagined that I would look forward and enjoy work so much and all it brings to my day.
True responsibility described here is an amazing refreshing joyful way of being that we so often miss out on instead of bringing our all to everything simply being ourselves and if only this quality was what was known and appreciated so much more and actively lived how different the world would be.
“In fact one impacts the other, and how we are in each area of life then impacts all the people in our lives.” this is so great to to read and feel just how different our lives can be when we start to introduce the fact that everything in one area of life affects everything in all other areas of life. Quite an incredible change is possible when we consider this as one thing no longer is more important than another. Something that I am still very much working on as it can be so easy to try and make one part more important than another.
“What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?” How one lives in one place affects how one is in another. So to bring ‘your all’ to every situation is live ‘one life’ where one is the same quality in everything that to suit compartmental segments i.e. work, family etc.
absolutely brilliantly shared. There are many work places which long for someone like you’d describe as a responsible worker.. its unbelievable the amount of things that go on in workplaces which are irresponsible behaviour, which is basically wasting time, even though technically doing a good ‘job’. Unless there is purpose the job is not serving.
“One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.” So true Terrii-Anne we may not see the effect but once the ripples are set in motion how far they go and how many people we affect is not always known and it is often only when they come back to us we see the real responsibility we have in all that we do and say. I recently felt the ripple affect coming back to me when at work the other day. I woke up slightly grumpy and out of sorts and knew that I didn’t speak to people close to me in a loving caring way. At work that day a customer got upset with me for something that could have been seen as unnecessary or out of context and both of us left on not such great terms. I could feel at that moment that how I woke that morning how I moved was not loving or in line with where I normally am when I wake, and the ripple effects had come back to show where I really was. This took my awareness of responsibility to another level. We can not have our little out moments and think it will not affect people far and wide.
Great sharing Alison, and I have also had days where I feel it maybe have been better to stay in bed but then the lesson that you have shared would have been missed. So it is integrity that we take to bed as Terri-Anne shares that shapes our next day and how we sleep.
We must never underestimate our every expression, word and thought for our quality is forever touching another, indeed all others all of the time whether we seek to be aware of the fact or not.
On reflection, I find my workplace the most challenging aspect of my life however this blog highlights that I can do so much out of work to influence how work is for me and those around me – everything is everything when it comes to responsibility.
The workplace is the most amazing place to learn about myself, others and how to bring ‘more’ of me each day. In my busy workplace I never know who or what I will be faced with in the next moment; I love that.
How we are with ourself forms the bedrock of the quality we then bring to others.
“What if true responsibility was in how you put your body and being to sleep at night, completely wound down and in an environment that supported deep rest?” I’ve not been to any corporate work presentations that take responsibility to this level, yet its simple and from my experience makes a huge difference in how I feel.
How amazing life would be if we all came to a place where “we can see that our home life, social life and work life is no different.”; that these are not separate roles that we take on and need to ‘change hats’ for, but just one life with many varied expressions. If we live one way at home and feel that we need to change when we go to work to be someone who we are not then this pretense is sure to impact on our body in many ways. I used to live like this and know it is very exhausting, a waste of my precious energy; a hard lesson to learn but one that I am so glad that I have.
if we all come to understand that our life is just one-life, no matter if you are at work, at home or in another situation the world would become a completely different place to live in. And I know it is possible as through my own experience by committing as much to life in my so called private as well at work or any other place where I am in and part of my life has changed significantly and I now do understand that everything matters as how I am today will be the foundation for tomorrow and thus will have its effect as such. Then, by living in this way, what also helps me is when i am ‘out’ as in not feeling the same or more as the days before, I know something has happened and I can not trace back to that moment where I lost it and with that ability heal the issue that made me waver. So living in this way is actually choosing for a way of healing the hurts we have suffered by not living the divine we actually are.
I realise how stressful, exhausting and loveless it is to not embrace and live with true responsibility. I was not aware of true responsibility until I started attending Universal Medicine workshops and presentations. Now, I feel incredibly lighter, not stressed, overwhelmed or exhausted because I am learning to take responsibility for how I live and the choices I make. I have discovered taking true responsibility is infact deeply loving.
“Nurturing your body, completing your day and preparing for the next, rather than reaching for that glass of wine.” It used to be my normal to take the edge off. Until l discovered Universal Medicine and then nurturing took on a whole new meaning for me. I’ve not touched a drop of alcohol since and my quality of life has increased 10 fold.
It’s interesting, as I thought I ate well, but in reading this line “a lack of nutrition”- I can feel there is a lack of nutrition in my diet. And this is affecting my health.
There are some really incredible points shared here, whilst at work we can strive for responsibility in a regimented way we almost always forget the responsibility of quality of care and love we are with ourselves and all others, it makes no difference where we are in the world or what we are doing, that quality is what is foremost and what each person we meet receives.
Terri-Anne this is huge
“One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.”
We have not been taught this kind of responsibility from young, because no one remembers how energy works and that everything happens in life because of energy divine or Astral. And if we were to live life from the divine energy, I feel it would be completely different as there could be no wars and no abuse towards another as when you live from the divine energy there isn’t a bone in your body that could harm another as we would be living in harmlessness with ourselves and everyone around us. This life is possible if we take responsibility for ourselves and our actions.
A big, big part of responsibility is what would normally be seen as being responsible: Being aware of what the real requirements of the work are and to do them well and effectively or to find out how to do that which includes dealing with colleagues who may have difficulties with us. That complements us being in our full-ness quite wonderfully.
The responsibility for how I am in my care of myself is for everything I apply myself to each day, to work, to shopping and even to walking down the street. As a loving person I take that to the world.
If there was more responsibility in the workplace (the way you describe responsibility in your blog), I wonder what the stats on workplace conflict, bullying, the number of sick calls, absenteeism or work health and safety incidents would be like?? Chances are, it would be a much more harmonious environment to work in.
We have an acute responsibility to deeply care for ourselves and to not accept unloving behaviours in any way shape or form. The more this is embraced, the more our hearts open and life begins to feel completely different in the most beautiful way, as grace has been given to our sensitivities.
Beautifully expressed Abby.
What I love about this paragraph “If responsibility in the workplace was much more than ticking the boxes of our job requirements and turning up to work on time, and more about how we lived as a whole, then we can see that our home life, social life and work life is no different. ” is that even though we try to make work about ticking boxes and just work, there is no way we can, it is always influenced by the whole, by everything that comes our way 24/7 – therefore its not like we need to change anything but be open to listen and learn and take responsibility for what is already being shown to us.
It is so refreshing to read your blog every now and then and to come back to connecting with a fresh level of responsibility, looking at it from a different angle. No judgement, no expectation simply being aware of areas I might not have been aware of before.
Thank you Terri-Anne, you have given us a clear understanding that responsibility at work starts with the quality we choose at every moment as it creates a momentum or flow for everything else to follow, and that is where true productivity occurs from a foundation that takes into consideration the all and not just the self.
This blog has given me a good prompt to review how I am at work, and whether I am present and focused throughout the day or still have my little out moments where I let my mind wander or emotional reactions take me away from the beautiful quality of stillness I know I can share with my colleagues.
‘Everyone equally responsible no matter what the position’. We have a long way to go in terms of living in a transparent and accountable manner.
Responsibility runs deeper than deep, no different to love it’s expression is endless.
And like love, it is quite joyful.
Understanding about true responsibility in the work place is for me a knowing that when I feel back to how my day was, were there any holes, any gaps that I didn’t feel I completed 100% with my all? Looking at those incomplete moments exposes our drop in responsibility and gives us the opportunity to notice and catch them in the next day.
You open up a beautiful vista of responsibility facets, each one a shining example of what it is to live one life where everything is equally as important as another. The harmony and rhythm of a truly religious life lived in responsibility are deeply felt and tenderly expressed here.
We keep being made aware that we are responsible for how we act and what we say in our everyday lives and the same goes for when we are working. Our lives will only mirror what our thoughts and actions are and we are all love , the more love we share the more we receive.
“Working with the understanding that every single person in a company is needed and without the full commitment and unity of all, no real success can be had.” – this is often given lip service but it is so true. Every single person in a company is needed and is of equal value.
This so beautifully breaks down the false hierarchy in society where we value judge jobs, each other for what we do, remuneration… and invites us to walk alongside one another as absolute equals.
Yes it does Matilda. There is a lack of appreciation towards people in seeming lower positions such as office cleaners, and I wonder if this is in reaction to the false hierarchy in organisations. Unless you’re sitting at the top of the tree then you’re always going to have someone above you who might not see you as an equal, and therefore you see people ‘below’ you as not your equal.
True responsibility brings up in me the fact that we are going to pass-over so we then live our life in a way that there is no reaction to life. When The Livingness becomes our way of looking at life it becomes our second nature to understand the responsibility we have to hold so there is a truth about death. When we pass-over we have developed a relationship and worked with our karma, then when we incarnate in our next life we have less karma, to me this is what true responsibility and life is all about.
For more about karma go to;
http://www.unimedliving.com/search?keyword=KARMA
Appreciating work is worthy of the same quality as other areas of my life that I enjoy is a great choice. The more I embrace this choice the more joy I have at work, the more caring are the relationships and the simpler and more amazing the days become. Appreciation my commitment at work is now a joy-full responsibility I don’t leave home without.
I love how you have taken responsibility to another level, at present much of the world’s work force is exhausted, could one of the reasons for this be that we absorb a lot more from others than we like to admit. Every time we go to work hungover or foggy from late night entertainment we are often harming our colleagues. Though this is something few will admit.
The simplicity of seeing all parts of my life as equal means that I have had to look at the impact of my choices on others both at home and at work but the result is that there is a flow to my relationships as I deal with things as they arise rather than harbouring resentments which used to poison my interactions with so many people. I avoided taking responsibility for so long but am now realising that the person that benefits most when I do is me as I have a loving framework and purpose to guide me through life and as much support as I need available if I choose to avail myself of it.
‘everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.’ We can either feel daunted by the responsibility this brings or feel inspired and joyful knowing that each one of our choices matter in the grandness of life.
Every aspect of how we live affects everyone and everything. This is true responsibility. There is no off switch.
Responsibility is not something you can turn on for work, and then turn off when you go home, responsibility is a way of life and any irresponsibility spills out to other aspects of our lives. I love how you make work about people first and our quality of relationships with coworkers and customers is what makes it all flow.
This makes me consider all those who turn up to work tired, exhausted, drained and not only generally not fully vital but also not enjoying life in general. Most place the blame on “life” but is this in truth utterly irresponsible?
Responsibility can really involve a lot for just one simple task because responsibility doesn’t just mean for this part of a job or task, but the whole job from start to finish, including all the little details, and it’s paying attention to those little details that make it so interesting and more purposeful.
We often see responsibility as something overwhelming and too big to handle, but it seems that we have been fed a lie for centuries, and it turns out responsibility is none of these things we have bought into, and is in fact light and joyful (personally I feel as though I am only just starting to get a sense of what true responsibility is, but one thing I do know, it is not burdensome).
This is the beginning of accepting the true definition of responsibility and realising it is something incredible beautiful.
Our fore most responsibility is for our own self care and love and from that true wellbeing from within we cannot but help to act responsibly towards others and in life.
To consider how we are at home impacts and affects how we are at work is a step that when thought about makes much sense. We tend to compartmentalise our lives and put things into sections or segments. But through the presentations of Serge Benhayon I am beginning to understand how everything affects everything and we can’t live life with an on/off switch.
When I consider the role models we see in workplaces who are supposed to teach us responsibility, we can get some very mixed messages, most of which do not include caring for yourself 24/7. People can think they are being ‘responsible’ who take on too much, who go into anxiety and stress to get things done or who are only responsible for their part and couldn’t care less about the rest of the workplace. Whereas I have also seen people who know responsibility is a full time job, and how they live at home affects the quality of their work. They also know that it means energetic integrity, not just ticking boxes to look like a good employee.
We cannot be truly responsible at work if we are not responsible in all areas of life. If we do anything for relief after a hard day’s work it means that we are probably ticking boxes at work to look good or mistaking true responsibility for obligation. If we live with the purpose to serve, it affects every moment of our lives and is a joyous movement, not a burdensome one.
Responsibility in the workplace, anywhere in fact is me being myself (if I’m honest I don’t live this, nor am I quite sure what it looks like in full) but I do know what putting on a front is and pretending I’m somewhere I’m not is not the answer.
True responsibility starts in our own backyard and then that same dedication is delivered in everything we do.
our first and foremost responsibly is to energetic truth – from here we will bring True Power, brotherhood and divine purpose to all of life- our families, workplaces and greater community.
Each time I read this I get a deeper sense of responsibility and the gift it offers us to pay attention to the small details that affect the whole.
The more I accept that responsibility is a 24/7 activity, the more I accept the impact of my every choice and action… and vice versa. I am inspired to find that this is making my life simpler and simpler.
Actually we have only one responsibility in life and that is to live the according to the quality of light that we are to the best of our ability wherever we go or wherever we are.
Bringing an understanding of true responsibility as the quality we hold within ourselves in whatever we’re doing is profound. Everything comes back to us and how we are with ourselves is felt by everyone we meet and relate to.
This asks you to consider more than you. Often we can run our lives in a way where the focus becomes on ourselves but in a way of how do we get through this. When we live more responsibly the focus still includes ourselves and how we feel but with a different intention- it is as you describe- taking care of ourselves so that we can do what is needed and will support in full whatever we are working on.
‘Now imagine, if most of us are having a bad day – how many more people get affected by this?’ – A great question Terri-Anne – it does not take rocket science to figure that out, so how come we do not pay careful attention to the quality and manner in which we live our daily lives.
Where does true responsibility come from? We will hardly accept to be true responsible in life and in what we do, if we do not accept first that we have a deep responsibility to connect to what we do bring to this world, appreciate it, let it out, and share it openly.
‘True responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves and the quality in which we go about our day and less about what we do.’ Very true Terri-Anne. So many of us were taught to ‘do’ and achieve at all costs, with little regard for integrity or the quality in which we do anything. Learning to ‘be’ first and take that quality into everything we do makes a huge difference.
Taking responsibility for all areas of our life makes so much difference and I find the more focus i put into simply being me present focused and steady with a joyful way the more the day seems magical and flows for my self and everyone around me too and the sparkles and simplicity of life seems infectious and magnifying. However when I don’t do this and feel off with myself then this is what is also reflected instead . How powerful we are and it is to be responsible loving and living this responsibility with life.
To really appreciate the power of completing the day and preparing for the next is important and a huge support in building a harmonious quality in our day to day living.
A great call to understand and open up to the quality of responsibility. Most of us struggle already with the bare minimum of responsibility that we have, however responsibility as you describe brings a whole new quality to life and makes sense and takes away the burden that many of us feel responsibility is.
Responsibility is to connect to the essence within and feeling the love and tenderness within everythig else becomes simple.
It makes me wonder why we are not taught at a young age that how we do things and the quality in the way that we do them has a ripple effect everywhere. It’s like no one wants to admit or accept this essential fact of life. Starting to make changes that is in line and working with this has changed everything about who I am choosing to live.
“What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?…” This is a great statement to consider as how easy is it to simply function and tick boxes to get work done?… When you work with the awareness of you and your quality of being, work is never a chore or a check list of things to get done… there is a natural buoyancy.
Energetic responsibility is about being aware of what energy are we choosing to pass through us in every moment, as this will determine the choices we make, which will determine the quality of energy we will work with.
In choosing to be responsible in this way we are supported by our own connection to our essence.
Another aspect of responsibility is to allow others to have free will and not to protect them from the consequences of their action – it takes discernment to do this but it can be very supportive for the other person so that their behaviour doesn’t escalate.
When I have had a great night’s sleep, it is amazing how easy it is to get out of bed the next day and to get loads of things done first thing in the morning.
True – we often underestimate and dismiss the importance of deep regeneration and rest and its flow-on effect to the whole of our life.
What a great article Terri-Anne you cover so many important aspects to do with overall responsibility. It shows there is no off switch to this subject as how ever we behave after or before work, what ever we eat, think or how we prepare for work or sleep, the exercise to keep in shape all effects the all, everything.
Yes. I agree. And having been so averse to responsibility it is amazing to feel that it is actually liberating, inspiring and makes life beautifully simple.
Very true Terri-Anne, the quality in which we live and work is our true responsibility. We need to see if we live less than who we are we hurt ourselves and others and I am by no mean perfect but by being honest about my choices and reflecting about the consequences, I learn every day to be more responsible in every area of my life.
This is such an important conversation to have and to continue with each other.
We have all been so focused on the physical part of things and not understanding why things, so often, don’t turn out how we want.
I have observed many people with incredible skills and as-we-know-them ‘work ethics’ and yet they can still be so unhappy and drained by their work… so what if it is as Terry-Anne suggests that work ethics are actually happening on much deeper levels as well into how we are being and living all the time?
What if one of the most important ingredients going into all we do or create is how we feel, how loving we are with ourselves and the quality of our relationships with everyone and everything?
If this is true then it does very simply explain why our world is not so harmonious; why things fall apart despite all our external efforts…
Yes, burnout is a huge problem and it may be that much of it can be avoided if people only knew why they choose burnout – many people actually have a choice even if they may think they don’t.
In a way some of the basics of responsibility – turning up on time, looking clean and smart and acting professional can actually be the veil for our irresponsibility’s – it doesn’t matter that I was passed out on the floor until the early hours of the morning – I have gotten up and dressed and look clean and fresh so no one will know. Or even, I beat my wife and children last night, but i turn up to work in a smart suit and I am always polite, so I get away with it, right? So, what we can see is that there is a much deeper level of responsibility we need to consider and we can’t get drawn in simply by someone’s appearance
So right Rebecca. Looks can deceive if we don’t read the energetic quality that is before us.
I agree – we are truly blind when we rely on our sight alone for what we see can be very deceiving
One of the lessons I’ve learnt is the responsibility of being open to everyone in the workplace. In the place where I work now I’ve been building a very open relationship with my manager. And as a result the relationship continues to grow and blossom to such extent that I start to see and feel her as equal to myself. And not somebody who holds more responsibility than I do. We’re having different roles, but both equally important. An important and super great lesson.
‘What if every single person pulled their weight, worked collaboratively without blame for another, nor apathy for the task at hand? ‘ Exactly, blaming others is not a part of working collaboratively.
When I have truly taken good care of myself I feel amazing at work and my relationships with colleagues and customers feel great and very open. As soon as I eat something that doesn’t agree with me or makes me race I can feel my whole energy change and my relationships change also. I become short and grumpy and shut people out. It emphasises the responsibility that we have to take care of ourselves in order to live at our full potential and do a great job.
When we choose to take such responsibility for ourselves outside of work, we begin to transform the quality of both our private lives and work environment positively so, which considering how long we spend working has to be an immense incentive.
What transpired yesterday for me in the workplace was that by being present, bringing purpose into what I was doing and expressing what I felt it set the foundation for the day and during the day. People around me flowed and worked together better, it was amazing to see and appreciate that my quality of presence is far more powerful than words, when you combine the two and add in the care I take with every movement then it was beautiful to see what happened. The ripples go out to everyone our business deals with.
We hold tight to very set ideas about what others should be responsible for, be that our kids, our partners, our parents, our bosses or the government and these pictures serve as a permanent source of disappointment when they are not met. If we simply focus on being responsible for ourselves then how others behave does not have nearly the same impact on us.
I have recently have been allowed to interview some new staff to work for me, my way. I create a short list and then interview them, with a difference. A short introduction to me and them and then a few questions I have and then we go for a walk around the building, it is a real big building, talking and showing the different types of work that is required. After the walk and talk that takes about and hour, I ask if they could see themselves working for me and in the building? It makes interviewing and being interviewed fun!
Connection and responsibility is what it takes for me to flow with my day and every day! How often I fall short of this, however just being aware of this is a step in the right direction, for self and others.
It is true that everyone is on the receiving end of our loving or unloving choices, and if we lived with this awareness what a different world we would experience.
Being aware of the greater whole, both for our own choices and in regard to how we view the whole company or team we work for, brings more depth and dimension to our relationships, life and work. This has to be the new way to evolve and bring humanity into the harmony it is seeking and longs for. It all begins with the responsibility to connect with that inner stillness and harmony in ourselves.
This week I’ve experienced how powerful it is to stay connected when around me people are in a (heavy) discussion. Only allowing them to discuss and meanwhile staying with me led to acceptance and openness in the end. For me a complete different approach that working hard to ‘get back harmony’. Thank you dear life for presenting me the possibility to experience the power and responsibility of holding my essence.
‘everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond’ This is an important lesson we should all be taught from a very early age so that we take more care in everything we do
It is apparent that true responsibility encompasses the whole of our lived lives – the energy in which we live in every moment will be in and with us in every setting – in activity and in rest.
How content we are to see responsibility on a surface level and champion our willingness to comply yet how very few of us live with understanding of the impact of energy and each and every energetic choice we live and its impact on others?
Being with myself throughout the day is true responsibility along with the acceptance that I am not perfect. I am still a student when it comes to being with myself although I am aware that the more I connect the more my day flows.
Completing your day and preparing for the next feels very supportive, whatever that may entail or look like for each of us.
There is no ‘what if ‘in all of your questions of how we should be in our daily lives. As you have pointed out true responsibility is being our all, all of the time with everyone, starting with yourself.
It is a great question you pose here Terri-Anne – what indeed does taking true responsibility in the workplace look like? Your blog offers a great reflection that maybe there is more to responsibility than most of us are aware of.
In order to be responsible at work, what if we then had to then be equally responsible when NOT at work; in our homes with family, on days off, with friends and everywhere…
Terri-Anne such an important point you raise “Now imagine, if most of us are having a bad day – how many more people get affected by this?” when we have a bad day, or things are tough, its just about us we don’t ever think about others. Perhaps thats one of the reasons, but as you say we are not alone in having a bad day so how can we expect another to make our day better for us when we are being faced with the consequences of our choices? The words make sense but its something I’ve yet to master and make a living sense of but certainly know its important!
There’s a world of difference between living responsibly in the way you describe, where life is something to be treasured and nurtured and living irresponsibly where life is a constant struggle and feels like hard work. Changing the focus to how we are and what we can do to change our experience of life, reaps rewards.
Work is a very natural urge within us, so it makes sense that ensuring all we do supports us to deliver the goods while ‘at work’ and in fact our time outside of work matters a great deal. I have gone from trashing myself to taking immense care of myself outside of work and the results are stunning. When we take care of the quality of our home and private lives, delivering a high quality product in the workplace naturally spills out of us.
There is that tendency in us to not appreciate the importance of being responsible in life and mostly value it as a burden. While responsibility is actually not taking anything on your shoulders as is our current and common belief, it is about our quality of life, a certain decency, consistency and integrity to all what life is and that really matters to make life and the world for all of us a better place to be and in which we can prosper and evolve together as one.
Responsibility is to look after yourself so you have the energy and skills to look after others as part of your work and to do what is necessary to enjoy your work.
Being responsible means that what we do is enjoyable as we know the value responsibility brings.
Its like one continuous circle, whether in the workplace or at home, or out and about in the community, the common denominator is always the person, and the relationship they have with responsibility. Its a great place to start as this relationship impacts all compartments in one’s life.
True responsibility at work is a whole of life responsibility. How we live in every moment matters if we are to bring complete integrity to our workplaces. Bringing a hangover or a porn addiction or abuse to work, although relatively hidden in the visual sense, can be felt by all. Would we bring these things if they were written for all to see on our foreheads?
I feel with responsibility we like to pick and choose when we feel to be responsible and there are times when we feel like a ‘break’, to just sit back and relax in our comfort. It’s the consistency with responsibility that makes it so powerful and enormously inspiring for anyone noticing.
With true responsibility it doesn’t matter where we are, what we are doing, who we are with, we can always choose to live our truth openly, honouring ourselves and everyone else. It’s an unwavering commitment to being all of who we are to the best of our ability, always.
We can have a kind of on/off relationship with responsibility and choose to ignore it at times, in favour of only when it suits us, or if we have an agenda. When we choose this, we are not feeling the absolute love that is within responsibility and are saying no to evolution.
If we need a reward at the end of a busy day, it may be a sign that we have not been truly connected whilst we were at work.
“It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do”, so well said Terri-Anne because it is what’s on the inside that actually governs the outside, and it’s by allowing life to be governed by the outside that we have come to be in the dire mess that we are currently in.
True responsibility is living in a way that allows us to bring all of ourselves to the best of our ability, all of the time.
Yes, and with awareness at heart it brings purpose to our day, literally everything matters and every choice significant.
The quality that we bring to our work/tasks come from us. Which means that the more caring, nourishing and loving we are with ourselves, the more love our output contains. This isn’t visible for the human eye, but we all feel it. Whether we’re aware or conscious about it. Most of us have had similar meals prepared by different people. How is it that one tastes completely different than the other? I’ve had that one meal left me full and ‘complete’, yet another similar meal left me empty and wanting to eat more. Energy does count. On a much bigger scale than we currently admit. And the way we are with ourselves, 24/7, affects the quality of energy we work in.
This blog asks us to expand responsibility from the normalised interpretation of responsibility – being about a situation eg job or family, out to the universal perspective; that responsibility is in every moment of every minute and effects everything.
“What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?” What if every single person brought the real, full and true them to their day – workplaces would be turned upside down and absolutely transformed.
Yes, Terri-Anne, “building a body that [is] ‘fit for life’s requirements’” is so key to being able to being all of ourselves and what we can offer to daily life in the world.
Last night I was having a conversation with a young trainee doctor who had spent two weeks studying at home solidly without leaving the house and found that her production levels were really poor by the end of the two weeks. We talked about the benefits of a short walk and going to bed early and getting up early rather than staying up late. We discussed how education misses teaching us to look after ourselves and that for us to be able to shine in our professions this needs to come first.
‘Nurturing your body, completing your day and preparing for the next, rather than reaching for that glass of wine, beer or spirit to “take the edge off,” “forget about the day,” or “put the day behind you”? ‘ This feels very familiar – working hard and believing that we have been responsible throughout the day only to ‘let your hair down’ or ‘unwind’ in the evening with whatever indulgence or reward hits the spot.
I think what you share here Terri-Anne is a vital and essential part of life that should be a key factor in our education, something we are all raised with in order to prepare and support us to be truly fit for life.
The quality in which we choose to live knows no boundaries and therefore, everything we do matters immensely, from all our little ‘private’ indulgences to managing a team and running a business. Establishing authenticity arises when we take time to ensure that the quality of our private lives equals the quality of our professional ones, developing a transparency and integrity that can be felt to the core. There can be no better way to build a robust business than by establishing a one consistent living approach to every aspect of our lives.
I thought I was responsible in the work place, but I’m not at all. Firstly I need to get a lot more humble and drop the arrogance. And see that I’m not where I thought I was in terms of life, and that allows me to feel I’m the same as everyone else. It lets people in. Letting go of the front. It’s very humbling if not very uncomfortable at this moment.
What I can see here is how I know what responsibility is, I can see it and yet when I see people not being responsible there is still part of me that holds back calling that responsibility. But in that not only do I hurt myself from not expressing but I also stop offering an opportunity for others to evolve and grow. In that I join that irresponsibility at work – ouch.
When you delve into the world of corporate accountability and workplace relations it’s clear to see that so many businesses have the right words written down, but this is so far from the reality that their employees see. This makes so much sense though, in light of what you present Terri-Anne, for if everything ultimately depends not on KPI’s but the integrity with which we each live – well no wonder our workplaces are not so clear and free. We can’t blame anyone else – for the job of loving us, never stops.
There is something for corporations to look at in what you say and I feel there is equally something for the employees to look at as well. How responsible are the employees?
Your statement at the end of the blog sums up everything perfectly… “true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do…”
Yes this is so true, it is the quality we choose first and ever there after follows in accordance.
“take the edge off,” “forget about the day,” or “put the day behind you”……we have so many ways of doing this, but rarely do we ask the questions about how are we living that we want to take these edges off…it is where the gold is….that is where the true healing lies.
It feels to me that the things that most of us are almost permanently engaged in (food, drink, recreation, sports, entertainment etc) are actually there to take the edge off life. Which is crazy when you consider that the way that we are living life requires us to fill life with things to take the edge off it!
Thank you Sarah for sharing the many ways we like to take a siesta, reward ourselves or nap in the rest that far exceeds what is needed. Stopping to acknowledge these begs to question what you have mentioned about the quality that we are living. It is often those that build a steady foundation and make choices that continue to build this, are seen as odd, working too hard or just don’t know how to chill out.
I agree Sarah – it can get so hard to try and change the end result behaviors because we never look at why it is we always reach for the snack, the sugary thing, the quick and easy stand up dinner, the bottle of wine etc – when we being to question and look at how we lived that caused that moment to occur we can begin to unpick the cycles
Our currently known understanding of understanding misses the basis on which all is actually based – this explains what has been missing for some time.
This totally rocks the boat of what we have believed reality to be what is actually illusion. Hence, we created our own ‘truth’ whilst this is no truth. Your blog offers us the view through that which is possible in our own life illusion, and to break through it and see beyond. Thank you for doing your part so in supporting us all (people) to become aware.
‘It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.’ This is spot on Terri-Anne, and makes so much sense, that the body that does all of those things, needs truly loving care and attention, and not be constantly bombarded with busyness and doing, doing, doing in a hardness and resentment, with no quality at all. Choosing to do things while being present with your body makes the task so enjoyable and brings a spaciousness to it, which opens you up to so much more. It’s really a win win situation for all.
The basics of responsibility at work are in coming to work prepared for the day ahead, and not coming in tired or hungover from a big or late night, and then relying on stimulating food or drink to get through the day.
Businesses, the economy and the world at large would be a very different place if more of us connected to true responsibility being about how we live and what energy we align to first. What we do is only part of the whole picture, as the quality in how we do what we do comes first, and that is where our responsibility lies.
It’s great to break responsibility down or light it up, which ever way you look at it. The responsibility the article is talking about we all know, it’s no big step or far out picture, it all makes sense. I remember growing up and there was preparation for how my family went to work. It wasn’t about merely turning up and doing a job, there was a living part behind the scenes. Meals were prepared, clothes were prepared, rest and other things were mapped out as part of the plan and the whole family was on board with this and this was just for one week. This happened week in and week out, we all knew there was an importance to what was happening and how us supporting this then supported us back. It wasn’t one person going off to work it was everyone working together and then it was one going out but we all held some part of that as a family unit. I’m not saying this is a perfect picture by any stretch but merely introducing we had it and still have it but we have laid things on top of what is truly important. In most cases it doesn’t take much to peel things back to get to the truth of it but there needs to be a call to do it.
Thank you Ray Karam for highlighting the foundation that builds the levels of responsibility that is needed to go out and work to be part of the community. What is interesting to observe is how your sharing of the whole family’s role was to model this to the younger generation so that you could instil this pattern into your daily routine. Often we can take for granted that the foundation we lay each day is the platform that we can stand on when things may not work out or go pear shape. If we have this consistency we are better equipped to work with a level of steadiness when the day doesn’t go to plan and know we have put in place all the support networks if needed.
I looked at the same thing another way, perhaps a bigger way. What I am saying is not necessarily from a point that “builds the levels of responsibility” but more peels back the layers that we have placed over what is already there, what is already so natural but what we haven’t made our focus or dedication. We have all these qualities already, we have everything we need and now it’s about not adding to the things on top but more peeling back to reveal the grandness and greatness that is already there, that has been there and is still there in every moment. Like all cycles in life, everything is returning and in this case we are no different.
Knowing from with-in the purpose for going to work, truly supports me to have clarity and inner confidence through the day, which supports consistent levels of energy. If going to work is all about me and money then I’m exhausted at the end of the day, then I can make choices that may compound this because I’m tired and out of sorts, which can set me up for going to bed tired and the cycle to wake tired continues.
A focus on the quality of what we do, rather than the bulk of tasks we achieve, which of course is not an excuse to do less, but a responsible acceptance that how we do things is of foremost importance and that we can choose to understand the ripple effect of the energetic quality we create in any situation.
When I’m honest, I’m numbing myself a lot to be able to not feel what is really going on in the workplace. I used to use a lot of mental energy to make this possible, which has made me feel quite stable or so I sold myself. As I am more and more connected with myself, I can feel how I’ve fooled myself, and that the way I speak, walk and be with myself and others greatly contribute to either the ‘numbing’ me or the light, caring and loving me. To be able to make this choice required a lot of honesty and taking responsibility both inside and outside the workplace.
So many people use TV or alcohol to relax after a hard day’s work, not realising that possibly it’s the TV and the alcohol that creates the difficulty at work because of the poor quality of sleep that follows.
Yes Carmel. Everything we do in our day can impact on how we sleep, and in turn affects how we are the next day. Ultimatley we have to take responsibility for everything we do and how we do it, as everything is affected by how we are.
Yes, Carmel, I feel it is more than possible that TV and alcohol just stir the pot or postpones un-dealt with issues from work to fester till they are buried or become reactions to something else.
Agreed Carmel, not only that but the common belief is that TV and alcohol actually support people to relax, therefore people actively look to use these things to unwind not realising that they mask the feelings that we already have of being wound up and so prevent us from truly addressing and thereby actively diminishing our pent up agitation.
Life becomes much more interesting when we start to pay more attention to the quality we choose to hold ourselves in throughout the day.
I work in a very large building for the landlord and we are responsible for the common areas. We are the interface for all tenants wishing to make major changes to their areas to ensure there is no impact on our listed building. This is the same way we should always be with ourselves, all the time with everyone.
It feels as if for most the first list of responsibilities is quite a reach, let alone bringing in the depth you are offering as a possibility Terri-Anne. It is good to be inspired and know that there is another way to live this life and that with depth and quality of interactions a whole other world opens up.
I have learnt that it all counts to dismiss anyone of my choices as not counting is just burying my head in the sand. I used to like to think they were harmless or neutral options but with every choice I am either moving towards or away from something.
Responsibility is often seen as a chore and something we want to be relieved from now and again but when we begin to bring quality, true quality, into the equation responsibility gets lighter and more enjoyable although not necessarily less challenging.
This brings to the fore how very crucial self-love and self-care are and contribute immensely to the well-being of and harmonious interaction between all of us.
Everything we bring with us to work does impact on everyone. I have noticed how many walk on eggshells around their boss or workmate because that person is out of sorts for some reason. Irritation arises if someone puts a foot wrong and everyone feels uncomfortable. A great sharing for all of us, in the workplace or not!
It is clear to see that if more responsibility was taken for ourselves not only at work but at home, the workplace and the relationships we have will be transformed very quickly. No longer would it be acceptable for employees to come to work to do very little but still expect to be paid the same as others who are productive.
“It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.” this nails it for me, if we listen and explore our day with this potential point then we will certainly grow and evolve as a society and in each aspect of life, not perfect and with the understanding that we are all at different levels of willingness to be responsible but at least we call what true responsibility is.
“One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.” In so many more ways than we can ever realise and hence the responsibility we have is so much greater than we are willing to admit. However, when we really, truly understand this, there is no let up, taking care of every moment matters and the more we do, the more we realise the true joy of life.
If we could all develop this level of responsibility life would become amazing for all of us.
“It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.” Shifting the responsibility from what we do to the quality in which we do things brings a whole different focus and meaning to life that is so much more expansive, rewarding and fulfilling. It is being truly present in life.
True responsibility can mean looking at your life and taking the long view – what am I capable of and what can I be capable of if I work on X or Y? That can be very surprising.
This is a call for me to take deep responsibility in how I nurture myself. Thank you.
I devote time everyday preparing for my next next and it makes such a difference to how I am at work at how my morning is before I go to work. The unexpected thing with doing this is how much fun it is. Even though it may seem boring, it actually isn’t and I look forward everyday to seeing what else I can do that supports me in my day that makes my next day even more joyful. What I realise with the word responsibility is that I have understood it with heavy connotations, but the truth is it’s exactly the opposite.
A simple example of our responsibility at work is the energy we are aligned to when we send emails to colleagues – do we fire off a reply so it’s done, or do we choose our words carefully, making sure that we are treating the recipient as an equal, not trying to please, or needing any kind of recognition. As we click ‘send’ how hard was our body? Did we tenderly touch the keypad? We underestimate the power of our tenderness and the grace we can offer everyone we do business with.
‘everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond’ – I feel our responsibility isn’t only with the way we act, it also extends to expressing how we feel when another’s behaviour is negatively affecting us. When we clock this, if we do not speak up, the energy gains momentum like an infectious disease and becomes a bully in the workplace, causing absolute mayhem and enormous disharmony.
Last week, I started work feeling particularly amazing, incredibly joyful, just being me. I was working with someone in the office who has a tendency to become very angry and shares this openly. By the end of the day I felt like a deflated balloon and realised that I hadn’t held myself steady, I’d allowed the behaviour of another of affect me, but most importantly, I did not speak up when I could feel the imposition of the behaviour. I let myself down and everyone else, by allowing myself to be intimidated by the energy. If I’d chosen to address the issue as soon as I felt it, I would have offered a healing for us both, even if the other person reacted or chose to ignore me. It was a great lesson to feel how quickly and how far away from myself I can be when I don’t express and give in to an imposing energy. Fortunately, my return to amazing me is just as quick, it’s but a choice to do so.
I have recently started working with young people in a college and can feel, as you say Terri-Anne, how important it is to arrive nice and early to prepare for the day, smartly dressed with nails, hair and make up just right, as a reflection for them of the simple ways we can take care of ourselves with consistency.
There is a richness to life that we are being kept in the dark about. Your blog highlights this because the bulk of us are at that first level of responsibility that you wrote about. But where you take us, shows a much more richer way of living life and taking responsibility within it. Thank God for Serge Benhayon who is shining a light into these areas, to show another way, of what is possible to live in our every day.
What I find interesting for me is to look at my patterns of behaviour, as I might say I am tired one day because I didn’t sleep well, and then wasn’t fully open and engaging in my conversations that day with everyone I met. I could dismiss this as just because I didn’t sleep well, or I can look and see if it is recurring, if I have an inability to sleep well due to how I live my day, an exhaustion caused by my choices, and if in fact I am tired way more often that I have been actively aware and accepting of. This is just one example but for me, patterns of behaviour when noticed offer a great opportunity to change lifestyle and from there allow us to be more responsible.
This really does go to show there is no difference when it comes to responsibility, if we are at work or not, no off switch . One is intertwined with the other as there is no off switch with energy, only the choice to choose truth or not, what truly works or doesn’t.
Good point Ariana. We have been led to believe that ticking all the boxes is being responsible. Which means we can hold a version of what we think is responsible and therefore miss out on the forever expanding awareness and magic that responsibility brings.
I used to wonder why I would have ‘good’ days and ‘bad’ days at work blaming the bad ones on everything happening around me rather than checking in and feeling how I was in myself. Bringing consistency to my life in terms of my choices to care deeply for myself has brought a great steadiness to my days both at work and away from work and those days of see sawing from good to bad have dropped away.
This means that every moment is important, every moment is a preparing moment for the next moment. Which means that there’s never a dull moment, never a moment to check out. Yet, most of us live from work week to weekend and weekend to work week until holidays. Committing, checking out, committing, checking out etc. Although we’ve accepted this as ‘normal’, we definitely know that this isn’t our natural way to live. We can blame or start to take more responsibility for our lives. I certainly have experienced that the better I take care of and nourish myself, the more I enjoy working and the more responsibility I can naturally handle.
This is a great blog and perhaps something that every new employee could read when we start a new job. The way we live life and have a relationship with ourselves in reflected in the way we go about doing things.”…What if true responsibility involved how you conducted yourself in the workplace; not what tasks you completed, but how you went about completing them?…”
The question I would like to ask what is our workplace – we could define it as our ‘job’ but could our workplace be our car, our home, out food shopping etc too? If everything we do and choose affects all of our life equally?
Yes, they are all the some – one life!
I don’t live this way, I live compartmentalised and hide away.
A template for life where the unseen (but always felt) is just as important as everything else.
Beautifully said Lucy.
When we start to realize the significance of these “unseen (but always felt)” aspects of life on everything else, we will begin to clearly see that nothing is random and that every single choice matters.
People that do commitment to the quality they are at work are so supportive to work with. Supportive rhythms support others as much as ourselves.
For me, responsibility in the workplace is Absoluteness. And not an ounce less.
Responsibility is also in how we present ourselves at work – when we walk in through the door, what energy are we aligned to? When we say Good morning, how does our voice feel? As we approach our work station or desk, or our customer, what energetic imprint are we leaving there? If every movement is a presentation, how much of our true selves are we presenting?
‘What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?’ – Is this something we are prepared to consider? If so, it would be a total game changer, not only at every workplace but also in our lives and our societies.
How many will have a break from work, be it a long weekend of two weeks off doing something, be it laying on the beach, eating and drinking excessively or re-roofing the house? Then come back to work for a rest and expect them to carry you?
In life we all know about the routine and expected ways to prepare for an interview, prevention, meeting or pitch at work – but what if we could prepare for all this and everything else in life in another way, in how we care for ourselves, sleep, eat, the thoughts we allow and the conversations we have – that all of how we live is what we bring to every moment of our day
The quality of our output (output being everything that we think, say and do) is the most precious commodity of all. There is nothing that comes close to it, everything else that exists, exists purely to make up for the lack of quality.
If we could see the effects instantly of not being truly responsible this would be much more widely discussed and would be featured far more highly in company policies than it is currently.
The more responsible I become the more I am valuing the importance of true responsibility and the quality this can offer us as we become more present in every moment for everything from the next breath onwards. The greater our connection to our body the deeper we can go with developing a more honest and responsible approach to how we are with ourselves and the ongoing impact this will have on everyone – everywhere.
The world would be a different place if we all understood that in order to achieve true productivity in the workplace we must have a level of responsibility for oneself in the quality we choose to be in, that includes the quality of thoughts and movements as this is what creates a flow for all to be.
We seriously do not consider the impact of not preparing in life…is it only explorers, sports people or students about to do exams that need to prepare…I would say no…we all use our bodies and minds to function, we all know if we are emotionally unstable it impacts on everything and everyone…so why not the preparation in life. Sleep well, eat well, be honest if we feel emotional etc and take more responsibility. This is what I am finding in all of life, work, home etc are not separate, it is impossible to separate and compartmentalise our lives untruth.
Brilliant Terri-Anne, you have set the standard for true responsibility at work. No longer can any business afford to have workers coming into work still smashed from the night before it effects the whole team, the productivity and the quality. I love how you have taken responsibility to the next level – learning this should be our next CPD exercise.
If someone did everything you listed in your first paragraph – turned up to work early everyday, did what was asked of them, dressed professionally with slick hair and makeup, they would be the ‘perfect employee’ by any work standards today. But what if in order for a business to grow and evolve, not just the ‘boss man’ but employees had a responsibility to introduce ways to make it greater and grander even if this meant ‘rocking the boat’ so to speak and not being the favourite person in the office?
This would be responsibility indeed! Everyone realising what they have to bring without holding back, knowing they are equal to the boss and everyone else, and in equal measure responsible for the company and how it operates. How many of us are really ready to work like this and how many of us would really just prefer to be in the comfort of letting someone else take the lead?
When one truly takes on board what is presented here, it is clear to see that everything we do matters and contributes to the quality of our lives, every single choice affects the quality of our future.
As we are starting to write a document on what our company stands for and for it to capture some of the principles I love this one “What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?” as it takes work far beyond what we think of as being work and brings in a way of being that means we live one life – home – work – together as one. All relationships, everywhere we go is about being all of us.
What you share Terri-Anne is Gold- if everyone takes responsibility for their health and lives in a way that is truly self caring and self nurturing, starting from home, then this same quality of care can be brought to all other areas of life- e.g. workplace, social arenas etc. What a difference this would make on the wellbeing and productivity of the workplace.
Yes response-ability gives us the ability to respond rather than react and that is reflection of how we live 24/7 and not something we can switch on and off. Response-ability is a lot of fun!
If we have tension in one area of our life it can’t help but effect the rest. Being and living all of us brings awareness and clarity that naturally widens our perspective on life so that we are much more able to observe and see the bigger picture.
What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?
Wow, how would that be to actually have others working in this way and making the choice to look after themselves and make it about what is needed and not go into reaction or defence in situations. If we could simply stay with ourselves and work out what is needed next, and then as a bi product, actually enjoyed what we were doing, production and employee health would sky rocket for sure.
True responsibility is about honesty, understanding that in every moment we choose the energy we are in, it’s either loving or it’s harming and whatever energy we choose, that’s what we’re sharing with everyone else. Therefore, if we choose love, this is what we bring, if not, we are actually harming ourselves first and then everyone else. Understanding this first, we feel the importance of our choice and the consequences of our choices.
‘It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.’ – if everyone chose to live with true responsibility just imagine the transformation that would take place within the workplace. There would be far less ‘sick’ leave, people would feel a sense of purpose, everything being ‘done’ would be impulsed ‘from love’ – the ripple effect from that alone would be enormous. Most importantly, this change would be felt in every aspect of everyone’s life, not just at work. This is how we are naturally designed to live and I am quite sure that one day in the future, this is exactly how we will once again be living together, with true responsibility.
This article turns so many paradigms on their heads, thank goodness. When we truly take on board all that is presented here, what a huge impact it would have on so many of our ingrained work ethics and culture. Imagine the shift in office politics that could occur when employees and employers treat one another as equals. Just that alone would be vastly significant, but then add to the mix a consistent integrity in intention, commitment and focus and one would be looking at a very successful, profitable organisation with a very loyal work force.
How amazing would it be to give this to all new employees… and if they were to take it on board, their productivity in the workplace would be awesome, and the potential of the business would be exponential.
True responsibility is all about the quality you choose – whether it is loving, or not – and then whatever you do from there will bring a loving quality, or not… this is something that needs to be taught in all schools.
Learning about responsibility does begin in our own homes and with our parents and close friends as role models. There is a certain level of responsibility that we learn here as we look out at the world – going to school, going to work, chores at home etc etc. And these are levels of responsibility that are important to learn. But there is a far deeper meaning to responsibility should we choose to tune into this – the energetic responsibly of how we are with every thing that we do. What quality we bring to the all that we do is a key factor in truly freeing us or not. We cannot be fooled into thinking that just because we tick the box and have done as required that this is all that we can bring – for should we choose to bring our true quality of gentleness to the fore, then things change completely. It took me quite a number of years to really understand what this meant, and even now I am practicing this time and time again allowing myself to deepen the quality I do things in. And I am getting to understand how this actually is about responsibility and how deeply supportive it is to those around me, but also how it supports me and feeds me right back!
To consider that being responsible for work begins at home before you even leave, takes the responsibility truth card to a whole other level…on top of that consider what we eat, drink and consume before, during and after work that could also affect our productivity, focus and wellbeing…and then there is how we move in and around work… not to mention whatever we live at home we bring to work, like that argument we had that wasn’t resolved which we took out on our colleagues. Responsibility for the way we live is interconnected with home and work…it’s all the same.
So, I am discovering the power of energetic imprints at my place of work and the responsibility of this. When the day has come to an end, I am practising what it is like to tidy my work area with all the care and attention as if I was making my bed in preparation for the next night, but this time I am preparing my desk for the day that follows – a loving imprint that is left and waiting for me to return to, a space that has been lovingly prepared for me to give my all in an environment that is very challenging. And what is beautiful to see, is that often times I will come in and find that someone has been there, completing a task of their own, sat surrounded my caring love that I have left behind not only just for myself, but for everyone. And what is also very beautiful to see, is that many of my colleagues have begun to take the same approach to their work areas too, giving the whole place a feeling of care and support and clarity that is a joy to be in day after day.
Epic! This needs to be sent out as a memo to all staff everywhere. It brings us to such a different perspective on how valuable we are to our work place or indeed everywhere. Do we truly appreciate our value no matter what our job?
I feel that hand in hand with responsibility is commitment a commitment to living in such a way that it peaks peoples interest in you and how you are behaving. So its almost that you are watched to see what your reactions to life will be and are. And so there brings into life a purpose and that is a way to live life in total commitment to bring everything that we are to what we do this inspires others to give it a go. Because it reawakens in them the unsettlement that they feel but try to numb out of their everyday existents because they don’t know how to make the changes. That to me is an awesome responsibility and commitment.
I feel we all know what true responsibility is. If we can take responsibility for all the little things in our own life that supports us, it makes it easy for us to bring our true self into the world. And that is how we make a difference.
I love the message of this blog which is asking us to go much deeper and look at how we are living when we are not at work which then supports us to be more ready to deliver commitment to work within a body that is is not weighed down by all the impositions that we take on through life until we are willing to look at our issues and work on them.
Spot on Helen, the blog does ask us to consider that how we are living in one area, really should be no different to how we are in another area. At work or home or with family or with friends, really the quality we bring should be no different…
What if responsibility was accepting the fact that we are not in control of anything; that every move and choice and expression we make is an energy running through us. Therefore it becomes about not what we are doing but what we are allowing to be done.
True responsibility is in caring for all of the smallest seemingly insignificant moments when we deeply care for ourselves – what we are willing to accept in how we care for ourselves should be the minimum in what we are willing to accept as the level of care we allow from others.
Love it Terri-anne, true responsibility can be so much more than getting the job done, the quality and care adds an immeasurable quality, that only come from the quality and care we show every aspect of our lives.
There’s a strong belief that our work has to bring us something. Rather than LOVING the fact that we may work, that we LOVE TO WORK. That our work is a very important part of our life. That we’re able to express a lot of who we are in work. What if we wouldn’t have work? That would be very boring, wouldn’t it. And if we’re able to return to the love for our work, could it be that our approach towards work would become far more responsible? We’re all delicately, powerfully, lovingly and evolutionary important. So it’s not only about what we produce, but the quality of the outcome. And of course the (energetic) quality is far better when we take genuine care of ourselves. But not as a have to or another thing on the ‘things-to-do-list’, but simply to learn that we’re worth the responses to who we are. Our body loves to be loved! It adores us and so do we, only we’ve turned a blind eye on it… Are you in for a change?
This blog sets the standard of what constitutes responsibility for any business or company owner.
And if such a level of responsibility was embraced, it would not just be societies workplaces that would be transformed, but schools, homes , hospitals, indeed our whole lives would be different … all from living the truth of one word.
It is fascinating how the focus of all workplace productivity is actually on how much we do with often little recognition that our entire way of living contributes to the rate of productivity we can offer. If we do not look after ourselves for instance our rate of output is without a doubt going to be impacted.
‘How do you then interact with everyone you come in contact with? Now imagine, if most of us are having a bad day – how many more people get affected by this?’ Great point. All the choices we make have a significant impact on others.
When as you expressed Terri-Anne our responsibility starts at opening our eyes in the morning till we shut them in the evening. When we treat every moment of our day, work, life or play as the same is real responsibility!
I love your ‘What if’ questioning Terri-Anne, there is so much potential for work to shift exponentially when true responsibility involves how we conduct ourselves in the workplace; not what tasks we get completed, but how we go about completing them.
Terri-Anne, I actually love to feel how you describe how true responsibility is that everything we do matters to the next thing. It is then our choice to appreciate this, and learn along the journey. We can grow or we can stagnate, or we can fall behind, and we will have episodes when we will do each of those things, but our awareness of it makes a difference so we can catch ourselves earlier in the stagnating and falling behind times. It is all dependent on our choices.
‘What if true responsibility included how you prepared yourself the night before for your day at work?’ This is very good advice and makes so much sense, as how can a body that is neglected and disregarded, ever truly do any job from a place of quality and care. This can only truly come from a body that chooses this for itself.
‘Going for a walk or visiting the gym, building a body that was ‘fit for life’s requirements’ and could enjoy the day without the need for stimulants like sugar, caffeine and salt’ – This is a really important point, because 99% of people who spend time at the gym do so to ‘look the part’ and not BE the EVERYTHING. Exercising supports us to be grander, but we’ve bastardised and used it to look a certain way and tick boxes we think we have to tick, and the way we then exercise can easily become self abusive when we’re battling to become an image.
A great point and the beginning of a huge discussion. Do we go to the gym to support who we truly are or to try to literally mould our bodies into being something else? Why do gyms have so many mirrors when we already have everything inside of us. Is it because we value the external view of ourselves more than what is going on inside?
The last paragraph summarises this so well – responsibility is about the developed quality that we bring through all of our choices and not just the decisions we make at work.
“not what tasks you completed, but how you went about completing them?” now that is a whole deeper level of responsibility at work, its something that can be inspired can become the guiding principles of the business however it is something that is very rare in the world and even more rare in the workplace.
A beautiful and whole new level of the meaning of responsibility in the work place with ourselves and in all our lives in every moment wow !! what a difference this would make if this was the published code of work ethics in the world learning this responsibility and way of living as part of our school curriculum and from our home life. also. The fulfilment and quality of our work time , rest time and the harmony and joy within wherever we are would be so different leaving behind all our problems and stuff with no where for this and a harmony and flowing simple and very powerful lives we would lead with the greater purpose of responsibility and care for the all. It simply takes a loving discipline we have to be ready for and accept fully.
To consider but one aspect of what you’ve shared here Terri-Anne, in relation to the fact that everything we do impacts upon the whole, is to embark upon a path of returning to oneself and all that one in truth, is.
We could say that responsibility in such terms is actually our natural way – and that we have, so grievously, strayed such a long way from it…
When we bring responsibility to the work place our work becomes a far more enjoyable part of our lives, it is no longer an arduous task that we dread it is more just a change to the rhthym of our day than anything else.
I love this article… thank you. One of its many gems is the inspiration to prepare, build and nourish our bodies to be ‘fit for life’, ready to serve in whatever capacity is offered.
“Now imagine, if most of us are having a bad day – how many more people get affected by this?” I am intrigued by this question today and wondering what the true state of much of the people at work is. Do most of them have a bad day which we all are affected by and with that do not have an idea what it is to be any different and cannot imagine that there is another way of being possible?
When we look at being responsible then most of us can say in our actions we are not directly harming one another, but what if by not being present with what we are doing we are leaving behind an energy that can harm others? What if the thoughts we allow also have a similar impact? Are we willing to take the next step from self responsibility to being responsible for the impact we have on all else?
I do not see the work I do as separate from any other area of my life. What I bring to my work I bring to every area of my life. For example, the way I care for and speak to my clients is with the same love and respect I care for and speak to my daughter or the shop assistance where I buy my fruit and veg.
Are we also irresponsible when we turn up to work and are not able to be present because we are still caught in a drama from the night before. How much time do we waste not connecting with others and what there is to be done in the moment when we are living in emotional reaction?
Goes to show that never are we without the call to greater responsibility, the true responsibility of living for life is spherical and every aspect of how we live impacts the whole.
I certainly find having a short easy walk in the evening is a great time to wind down and reflect on the day, and in particular how I feel in my body. It is not something I have committed to every night but I know that the more I make it a regular thing the more I am taking responsibility for putting myself in a good place where I can be of benefit to others. The same goes for exercise, an early morning session sets me up perfectly for what is to come.
Responsibility at work is never about the task at hand, as work can always be produced, under all sorts of circumstances. In most workplaces an employee’s quality, level of vitality, and how they feel in general, is not taken into consideration when a task is completed. As long as the work is done, how it is done, which comes from the quality of the person doing it, does not come into the picture.
When responsibility is as natural to us as our breath, it’s easy to see when we look around, just how unnatural life has become for us.
We often can consider just how our choices affect those around us at work but when in truth they have a very real effect on the whole of humanity it starts to bring responsibility into perspective.
Responsibility in how we are at work is the same level of responsibility when we are with our relationships, to doing our chores properly. Everything requires a basic level of responsibility but I can speak for myself that there are areas in my life that have not had the same attention as other areas. To be consistent through out my day and life is true responsibility. You can’t have it in one part and then not the other it simply do any work like that and we all deep down know this.
Yes Jane there would definitely be space for re-evaluating how we live our lives and the impact this has on how we support one another in all living and working spaces.
It is amazing how so much of what you have described here is actually and quite simply the elements of self-care, and so to be caring for ourselves is actually a very responsible way to be as this directly affects the quality of what we contribute to life – which everyone is a part of, so everyone gets affected by our each and individual choices, which means that no one is really isolated and that we are all constantly in some form of relationship or communication with each other all of the time.
I love this blog! It should be part of every workplace induction folder!
And so, is it not irresponsible to your work colleagues if you live in such a way that exhausts you to the point where others have to make up for your lack of productivity at work? And so, we could start for example by saying it is irresponsible to turn up drunk or hungover. Most people would agree with that. Interestingly, however, whilst most would agree with that principle they would perhaps not agree with it if we extended it by way of example to include other things that we are not so willing to let go of. For example, I would venture that it is irresponsible to have just one glass of wine the night before work, for to do so is to put your body under immense stress and rob yourself of the true recuperating benefits of sleep, and thus rob yourself of true vitality and thus robbing yourself and others of your true potential to be productive at work. That of course is a level of responsibility most are not willing to surrender to.
There is a dishonesty being played by everyone, managers and employees alike, where the true level of quality of presence in each person is ignored. So many people are taking sickness leave that when unwell people turn up for work everyone seems happy – although clearly no one in that state is capable of producing the same quality or amount of work. It has become normal for people to not be running on all cylinders and we are by and large ignoring our awareness when someone is not okay physically, energetically and psychologically. Perhaps this is because of the lack of willingness by each of us to deepen our personal responsibility to the level that you have highlighted Adam. What we would not want to admit is how deeply uncaring we are being to one another by carrying on in this way.
The true responsibility you describe Terri-Anne show us how we need to live life in every moment with purpose for the bigger picture, because everything matters and builds our quality to the next moment.
“What if true responsibility involved how you conducted yourself in the workplace; not what tasks you completed, but how you went about completing them?” – this would be a game changer because it would ask everyone to consider every aspect of their life and how they are in it, and that this will affect everyone in their workplace even when they are not at work.
I can feel the truth of what you say Sandra, we are talking here about a completely different way of being responsible than we were taught responsibility to be. The responsibility this blog is referring to is indeed not only about completing any task at work in time and with the required quality it is about the quality of your living that is the most important part that will be felt by all people thereafter. So if we are angry, frustrated or tired and exhausted, we bring that in the work we do and the product we deliver which then is felt by the people who will receive this product or are with you at the work place. We all know this although we are not told this to be a reality in our daily lives. In fact this is the responsibility we are here talking about, to take responsibility for the way that we are and that is not something you can switch on when you are at work and switch off when you are not at work, that is simply impossible, you always bring you to wherever you go.
Even though I know this Nico, I conveniently ‘forget’ this when I’m at home and nobody is there to see me.
Exactly Sandra, that is how we think, we think there is that on and off switch and in that we do not take the full responsibility that is being asked of us, to be consistent in our being, wherever we are or whatever we do. Also in your previous comment once we will fully understand the importance of being consistent and that we actually live one life then each moment we live will define the quality of the next moment to come.
To have real genuine responsibility anywhere out in life we must first have it within ourselves, in those times where we think we can’t be seen, in our houses, in our cars. It has to be consistent across all aspects, not just ones that are measured in the physical senses.
Since taking more responsibility in everything I do, what I eat, my sleep rhythms, how I prepare my self for work, etc. makes a difference in how my day goes. We can often blame work or others but how often do we look inwards.
This blog is a wake up call for a lot of people running around in drive or minimal energy and all it takes is a simple decision to make the choice to do something about it.
Reading this beautiful, honest and relatable article I realised that I’ve always been somebody who’s been quite late at the workplace. I’ve often told myself to go earlier, but hardly did it. Reading to be half an hour or 15 minutes early made me feel the expansiveness of such a choice. Much more spacious and loving. Towards both the workplace as myself. It’s up to me to turn up responsibility:-).
I have always found that doing work well is enormously more fun than doing work badly – that involves both the exterior like clothing and demeanour but also how we do the work – are we effective? Are we doing what is necessary and more?
Living responsibly, what a difference when expanded on like this. How can it help but bring a greater fullness and richness to our working days, and our lives in general. Our ‘response – ability’, ability to respond, rather than a cumbersome duty the word responsibility usually engenders.
Terri-Anne, what you are sharing here feels absolutely true. Since I have been taking care of myself; going to bed early and not drinking alcohol, smoking or eating sugar I have observed how my relationships at work have improved beyond measure, I have far more energy and love my work and now genuinely enjoy supporting the people that I work with.
True responsibility is to acknowledge that how you move now will have an impact on what follows and to use that knowledge to build the quality that will help you and everyone to achieve what is there to achieve.
I think we try and get away with the bare minimum responsibility when it comes to life, we tick the boxes of having a job, or a partner, and a car and a house, but we don’t like to admit that at any given point in time we have a responsibility to all the people around us, and that what we choose every single second actually effects them.
I’m reading this after just having been in the office and it did make me consider that there is so much more in the scope of responsibility. We are interviewing people and yes they are well versed and well
presented on a physical level but it does make me wonder how do they care for themselves outside work hours. What is their quality of sleep etcetera. And I also realise that if I am living this quality then I can inspire others to do the same – so it becomes so much bigger than me at work.
Yes, being a role model amplifies the experience of others, either the contrast is starker than normal or there is more joy when they are in tune with you. Beautiful!
Understanding that these behaviours are a by product of responsibility and not just what is to be aimed for. Being part of a team be it work or family that all take responsibility for what they can bring into a space makes so many things possible.
The quality we work in speaks volumes. You hear people say there are lawyers and then there are lawyers (or same for any profession). This all comes back to the quality and level of integrity we bring to our workplace.
We are forever deepening our relationship with responsibility. I remember thinking about what I choose to wear to work and how that can affect others if I choose to wear something to feel less and not stand out. We can see how everything we do affects others in our life.
It just makes so much sense that we need to look after our own bodies and care for them lovingly and respectfully first, to then take that same level of care with us to whatever we are doing.
“What if true responsibility included how you prepared yourself the night before for your day at work, dealing with and clearing any/or all the stresses of the day just passed?” – not clearing the day results in poor food and drink choices, or overeating or needing treats before bed, which affects a person’s sleep which then affects how they feel in the morning, and the cycle continues.
Responsability can feel and seem like a burden – surely I have the right to my off and out moments, my moments where I can eat or do what I like because why not? And in a way we do have that right, but at what cost and what is the effect on our reflection to others? I used to remeber teachers at school who where super strict and ‘responsible’ at school, but would be caught smoking or out on the tiles – their personal lives could be what ever they wanted so long as they seemingly left it at the door – but the kids knew and where getting the reflection that its okay to live this double life and double standards.
I have just listened to a presentation of the science of chemistry and how we are all made up of atoms, and how these atoms are leaving our bodies all the time. I have heard this before as a UK Professor of Science had at one time a very popular TV series and he too explained how our atoms leave us and traverse the outer reaches of the universe and come back, imagine the information they are picking up! How cool is this and how arrogant are we that can think that we live separated to and from each other and so therefore do not need to be responsible for how we live.
True responsibility is our every movement, to not know this has been a convenient hiding place to get away with blue murder as they say! I’m learning how deepening my level of responsibility affects everything, when I deepen focus in one aspect of life, it naturally affects the way I am in another.
“What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?” This is a way of being responsible which sounds light and joyful.
This article really hits home the fact that there is no cut off point from being responsible, what we do anywhere at anytime affects the all, I remember getting drunk most nights and going to work always hungover until I had my next drink, totally in an ignorant bliss thinking that I was the only one this was effecting. Its huge that I have been able to re-imprint some of the places I have worked at with a better energy, but it is something we can never stop improving or expanding.
Indeed Ariana it’s time to re define the weighty, serious, brow beaten definitions and associations of the word responsibility. Responsibility is a golden ingredient that can be sprinkled into everything, it can be playful, light and mighty confirming.
Indeed Jane through this commitment to each and every task, through not seeing any part as less, or more important than the other, I can see how this would also bring greater equality to the work place, where every department or job title; be it the cleaner or the CEO is valued for the support they bring to the company as a whole.
“…….how we lived as a whole, then we can see that our home life, social life and work life is no different.”
Terri Anne, I will never forget a wise teacher asking a group of us to imagine what our swimming would look like if we were going to swim forever. If you knew you were going to step into the water and swim forever, how would you prepare your goggles, the fit of your costume, the pace of your stroke and kick, the rhythm of your breath, all these aspects would require a conscious steadiness and honouring that one rarely takes into every day life, yet in truth as you have presented, this level of responsibility, the responsibility of our being-ness is the greatest support we can offer ourselves and in turn the world around us.
It serves us well to remember that we are not only being seen, but also felt all the time, no matter how much we may think that whenever we are out of sight we no longer have the same level of responsibility.
‘It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.’ I have found this to be true. For me learning to be responsible has meant dealing with my own hurts and letting them go so that I do not impose on others or contract around them. Dealing with my hurts and creating more space to be myself has also meant that I am able to observe more without getting affected as much, reading what is going on for the other person and holding them in a space that allows them to be where they are at.
The key is that we take responsibility for every action and then everything you share is a natural by product.
It strikes me that most of our basic understanding and ‘training’ in responsibility starts off very young when we are taught that what we do affects other people and the reason you act in a responsible way is that it makes life easier for everyone e.g. if we don’t turn up to work on time or at all then it has a knock on effect. So we all do know about it perhaps we just need to take it deeper in our awareness and consider that it is not just doing things and ticking the boxes, but actually the energetic quality of how we are doing them that has a far greater impact on those in our immediate contact but also the wider world constantly.
There is much in the summarising statement at the end of this blog. When we make responsibility about who we are rather than what we do, it takes on a whole different meaning. We may be able to pick and choose responsibility around our doing, but can we do so in regard to who we are? When we do choose responsibility for our beingness it naturally filters into what we do – and has therefore a deeper impact and comes into the very way we live life.
Throughout our work we can have process and structure but I love adding the principle of “What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?”, it’s something that is so far from the normality yet is the only way we have true success in business.
Thank you for a deeper understanding as to what true responsibility in the workplace means, starting with true care for ourselves. What a difference this would make if we were all taught this as part of a prerequisite for getting a job.
Responsibility is not a part-time job.
We often associate workplace as somewhere we go to do a job, and yet workplace is everyplace. Responsibility starts within ourselves, is found in every relationship at home, work, and community and affects everything we do.
It is clear that responsibility is not limited to one area of life nor is it task-driven for there remains a whole, total responsibility in every moment of life and never is this not forever calling us to live this… it is simply us embracing and living this responsibility or retreating from the call.
If I do not use my weekends wisely this is greatly irresponsible for everyone. A pitfall has been to ‘relax’ and not bother as much with those routines that support – under the illusion that I can take a break. This sets up a week that’s hard work all because I’m battling to recover from the weekend and so lurch from one weekend to the next. The choice to be responsible is made when I consider how I want to be on Monday morning – struggling with nearly everyone else or reflecting vibrancy and presence?
How many of us take this level of responsibility and support our body with the right foods, exercise, sleep, etc. so that we know that we have supported our self to be able to give our all at work or to what ever we have committed to.
Just the basics of responsibility you described at the start of the blog is for many a struggle to reach and commit to in everyday life – in general we are so unprepared and unmotivated as to why we should commit and why we should want to be responsible, so thank you for sharing and showing that there are so many more levels that we need to consider.
We are the ones that have to walk around in the body we have prepared for the moment we are living in. The responsibility is to ourselves. If I care for myself in the evening and prepare myself for bed lovingly, it is me who I wake up with. I am the one that gets the vitality, the gorgeousness and the love. It is in my body. The flow on is to other people, I get it first and then they receive what I emanate.
A truly great article on responsibility and the impact of the way in which we choose to live can have on everyone. Bringing awareness to what we do, say, think and feel is therefore paramount for the quality of this feeds out into the world … we have all been deeply harmed by the impact of others’ bad days and it is gorgeous to not only not add to this but to offer another way of being that is truly healing.
‘not seeing any part as less, or more, important than the other’ – if we can see the incredible effects and ripples we create in one aspect of our life, e.g. in our jobs, when we visit shops, volunteer somewhere etc., can you imagine what it would look like to do this in ALL areas of life?
“One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.” This really does highlight the responsibility that we all have to be aware of not only what we say and do, but how we actually do it.
Responsibility for how we are is 24/7 and not just when we step out of our front door…this is more a reminder for myself that energy doesn’t stop and start, it is constant.
If we’re not responsible outside of work then we can’t truly be responsible at work and if we’re not responsible at work then we can’t truly be responsible at home. True responsibility is not something that can be switched on and off.
True responsibility involves being proactive in order to be prepared for what is to come. Anything else is simply a delay.
Yes true responsibility is about much more than just ticking the boxes at work. The effect that all of our everyday choices have on us, like how we prepare in the morning, how we go to bed, what we do after work, how we are with our friends, family and partners, how we are with ourselves and how we are at work, in not to be underestimated. If we would all are committed to take this level of responsibility to our work we would be amazed how much work will get done.
This takes it to a whole new level. If we take a look around at workplaces today, with the level of disharmony, abuse, gossip, backstabbing, power games and all the complications that this creates, the bare minimum seems great. But as you say Ariana, in the world of responsibility this is still in its infancy.
It’s truly amazing to bring love, truth, understanding and support to the work place. We’re to support each other to take care of ourselves. Not as a have to, but because we’re worth it. If we would all come from appreciation for one another and an understanding that we all bring gold to the work place as well as things we’re to learn, then jealousy, comparison, individuality would soon disappear! We rock, if we so choose.
I can see from your blog Terri-Anne that there are many areas of my life where I can be extra attentive and therefore more responsible. What a fantastic place work would be if we were all living in the way you describe. Its inspiring to feel the very real potential, and with everything, we can start with ourselves.
Yes the ‘very real potential’ and therefore the inspiration to embrace our responsibility and play our part.
A great article Terri-Anne. I have found that that while people may take responsibility for how they present themselves and perform their job, they are unaware that true workplace responsibility extends beyond the hours they are at work and includes the choices they make in their everyday livingness and the impact these choices have on those around them.
Being responsible goes to a very deep level when we realise how we all impact on each other. Interesting that we have it the other way round in society. We tend to think that we are being very responsible when we put others first, but your blog highlights that we can be of much great service to ourselves and each other when we take greater care of how we are first.
You show us how we can bring the true level of responsibility of all of ourselves to be prepared for each day, whether we are working or not. This is really the level of preparation we can all be doing, I know I need to build more consistency for this Terri-Anne, you give us great examples here.
Having this level of responsibility towards ourselves and our work – you can only imagine the productivity of a company, not to mention the reduced number of days recorded for people being off sick or being late. With this level of responsibility our work environments would be turned upside down, and be so far removed from what we are currently existing with – it seems futuristic but anything and everything is possible.
I love how your blog rewinds our actions to look at what have come before in order to see how that has impacted on the present… which then gives insight and initiates a new level of responsibility.
There are many excuses we use to not bring all of ourselves to work, or to the world for that matter. But what I’m finding more and more is how unsupportive that is for others. It kinda blows my mind as it makes me realise how important it is for me to be me! Talk about responsibility.
Responsibility no different to love is not static, but forever expands as we do.
What I love about this blog is how it explains how we can deepen our quality just in the way we approach and live each day.
I had a very inspiring consultation with Zofia Sharman today about my work and the way I am at work. What I could see clearly was that the way I avoid responsibility of leading, expressing, being seen to bring about true change at work was exactly the same as my patterns outside of work. I am feeling today that my greatest responsibility is to be aware of and deal with these patterns that undermine the fullness of what I am here to bring to my workplace.
I know when I started to bring and all encompassing responsibility in the way I live and appreciated that this actually has a massive impact on not only my own life but everyone and thing around me it becomes a joy to make these choices. Making it about being self-loving with myself and the quality in the way I do things life opens up to so much more mean and depth. Thanks to Serge Benhayon and all that he shares I have been able to make these changes with his undivided support and love.
Truly taking responsibility is enlivening, our body loves the harmony it brings.
The way responsibility is generally understood in our society barely scratches the surface of what responsibility is truly about and the all-encompassing quality it generates.
“What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?”
What a wonderful, harmonious and loving world it would be if we all accepted the level of responsibility you propose here Terri-Anne. You are an inspiration in the quality of responsibility you bring to the workplace and to life.
“Everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.” This is a key point to be included in any vocational training. In fact it ought to be something we discuss and deepen an understanding of from early on in school. Its understanding provides a fundamental foundation for living as a human being.
What if true responsibility was being joyful, and leaving people be?
Thanks for posing these questions, Terri-Anne. There is something very joyful and celebratory about taking care and responsibility to this level, with every little detail in life.
“One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.” this one sentence is something that we as an individual or company could set as a foundation for our study for years to come. If we truly embraced this simple point our entire way of doing business and interacting would be different.
I went to see a company recently as I needed to go over their office procedures, and quite a few mistakes where brought to the surface and the young man who was asked to assist kept saying
” That’s not my fault I didn’t do that.”
He said this so many times that when his manager had walked away to check something out for me, I ask the young man how long he had been with the company and he said Three years, well that took me by surprise because from the way he was speaking I would have thought 3 weeks. What it showed me was that he had a total lack of responsibility towards his work and blamed everyone else and seemingly got away with such behaviour as no one even batted an eye lid he was being completely indulged and this to me felt very unhealthy because he had no sense of care or appreciation for the work he was doing or the extra work load he was putting onto others to do his job for him.
The more responsible we are the more fun we have! It is actually fun to be responsible for ourselves and to be accountable to others.
What if responsibility is a way of living that is far from being burdensome – but is in fact a joyful way of being? For me, accepting the fullness of responsibility has meant not being a victim anymore and not choosing blame. This does not mean people are not accountable for their actions for this is surely inherent in responsibility, but ‘the blame game’ is not healthy in my experience and there is liberation in not choosing it any more.
True responsibility starts with connecting with our essence or divine aspect so in other words connecting to God, everything after that looks after itself!!
For more about God go to;
http://www.unimedliving.com/search?keyword=GOD
You well and truly capture what responsibility in the workplace looks like, and then some. It’s very revealing that what is widely accepted as responsible and decent behaviour or attitude towards preparing and going to work, is indeed just the by-product, of what true responsibility is.
‘Everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.’ What you share in this sentence is huge. How many of us even that consider what we are saying or even the thoughts we are having are impacting another? Something I will sit and consider this morning as I prepare for the day.
True Responsibility is never confined to just one area of life but it lives throughout as everything has a bearing on everything else.
What an immense shift in consciousness this is, to truly take responsibility for how we prepare our selves for work the night before in order to be fresh, energised and present when we work. What is evident here is that the more we do, the less stress we have to deal with at the end of the day. What I have personally noticed in assuming this level of responsibility, is that this creates a positive feedback loop that not only improves the quality of my working day, but also enriches the time I spend outside of the workplace as I am no longer seeking relief from my self made stressors, but using my time very joyfully and productively.
‘everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.’ Learning this and the value of what we bring as individuals is the cornerstone of being responsible. When we commit to life however responsibility isn’t the drain we think it is, we actually get fed back so that we can be more of who we are and then we deepen our responsibility yet further!
What I love about your blog Terri-Anne is how you have tied all the aspects of life together and clearly show how one part of our life inevitably and inescapably affects the other parts.
This blog is making the fact that responsibility does not have an on or off switch absolutely undeniable. How we treat ourselves and others at home ripples out to how we treat ourselves and others at work and vice versa. The more responsible we are in every moment of our lives the more that ripples out to every single person we come into contact with and then out into the world. Our life is our responsibility first and foremost and what happens next will depend on that level of responsibility.
I learned yesterday from someone I know of an absence of ‘work ethic’ in some colleagues: a tendency to do the bare minimum, nothing over and above. When we do not bring all of ourselves to work and do so with devotion, we offer clients a measured service and they feel this. Then there are those of us who do themselves a dis-service by giving too much at their own expense. True responsibility nourishes giver and receiver equally.
True responsibility infuses all life.
I have mixed feelings reading this blog. Part of me can embrace huge appreciation at many of the very loving and responsible choices that I do make every day that are rooted in a deep love of myself and humanity and a strong commitment toward serving responsibly and in full. However, I can also see and feel many areas where that responsibility slips. And in truth I know that if there is one area where I am prepared to drop the ball and say that something doesn’t matter, then this affects the all.
There are many super practical and simple tips in here. We can not understand true responsibility until we understand the ripple effects that our every move and choice has on each other. That’s when the full picture begins to come into focus.
Our first responsibility is to ourselves and from that all else flows. Tenderly nourish and nurture ourselves as a daily dedication and prepares us to offer the same to others.
Without taking responsibility for our actions and choices, there is only an empty foundation to express from!
Your list of all that we should be responsible for sounds unattainable! Coasting through life sounds better! But, as you have said Terri-Anne, it is the quality of how we move that is the only thing we really need to do and the flow around us just happens!
What a well-written article! It shows plainly how all aspects of our work affect all aspects of our lives and how simple techniques for keeping ourselves healthy can support us in our day to day activities, and how all our relationships at work and at home can benefit.
‘the quality we are within ourselves’ … that determines everything and honouring and staying with that quality in all we do ensures that we are being truly responsible whether we are at work or at home.
For some, what you write makes sense – like the questions you ask are facts or truths for me. But for many what you bring up is very confronting. And so it comes back to me and my responsibility to live in a way which shows others that it is possible to bring yourself to work (or any situation) differently.
Responsibility to others does start with our responsibility to deeply care for ourselves, and as you say Terri-Anne, it’s across our whole life and not in one part of life and not another.
Deeper responsibility is living the understanding that what we do (or do not do that is not of love) has immediate effect on ourselves, and all others around us… the ripple effect, and in this responsibility even though it is an individual and personal choice each of us choose to make, its effects are never this but always for the collective and universal in affect.
There is always another level of refinement to responsibility to go to… it never plateaus…
Great point Johanne, i too am beginning to see that responsibility is a lived expression, that can be light and playful.
This is so for certain: ‘everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.’ And I’m so far from perfect but see it in action all the time.
Taking care of the requirements for work becomes a natural expression when we choose to be all that we are in my experience.
making it about love the whole time everywhere we are .. something I am still learning!
It’s easy to slip into thinking responsibility has something to do with being ‘good’. It doesn’t in fact, but has everything to do with living knowing you are divine. For how can you hold back from another how you feel, how can you let your ‘team’ go, when you appreciate we are all interlinked and without all of us moving together, we will never truly go forward. Thank you Terri-Anne for this thought provoking blog.
How we are with ourselves in situations in life/work, definitely starts from how we have prepared ourselves that morning in the lead up to our day and how much love we are saying yes to or not.
This is a great expansion on responsibility, taking it is true responsibility – it is so much more that ‘being responsible’ for what we do but being responsible for the quality that we build within us and how we bring that into our daily lives which is also our workplace. Our workplace and life away from work is still the same, we are the same person living in these different scenes and how we live before work affects us how we are at work. True Responsibility actually supports us to bring a quality to our life, one of care and vitality whereas is we are just focused on responsibility being what we do, we can feel burdened, pressured and so forth.
This is a great article Terri-Anne, one of those ones that needs to make it into a ‘wellbeing’ magazine or even the weekend paper – to give everyone an opportunity to consider responsibility from a different point of light.
Love Terri-Anne, how you have unfolded the detail in which through true love and care of self there comes true responsibility, which is in fact not a heavy burden but makes life much simpler and all benefit from.
So… Responsibility is a constant. As a matter of fact it is a constant connection with oneself, willing to raise awareness of oneself, other people and God. It is in fact living an evolutionary life. How will the workplace be if we will work together from the first and foremost knowing that we’re working together to evolve.
Great call Terri-Anne – uncovering the depth of true responsibility in regard to our work.
Great what you share here Terrie- Anne “true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do”. I have noticed that my quality in my movements has a major impact on all my other colleagues and customers, If I am present and connected with myself, my body expresses the joy within, if I am distracted or anxious my body expresses that too.
It is so true Terri-Anne, our responsibility to our work, colleagues and our employers actually goes way beyond the ‘9 to 5’ aspect of the job. It unfolds into how we prepare for work and debrief once the day is done and the more we nurture ourselves outside of the working perimeter, the more enjoyable and rewarding our job becomes.
If we were to allow ourselves to see and feel the constant communication from our bodies and planet, we would have no doubt the level of responsibility that we need to step up to. Perhaps this is why we don’t allow this sight to be part of our everyday……
Appreciating and understanding energetic responsibility takes responsibility to another whole level to what is generally accepted.
We believe that life is segmented up and that work is separate to home life and that within these two categories there are many different sub categories but it’s simply not true. There is one life and only one life. We take that one life with us everywhere we go, it is not possible to portion it up in any way. I’m who I am in every single environment that I inhabit and I am who I am with every single person that I am with. I may ‘present’ a different personna to my bus driver than I do to my partner but in truth they both get the same me.
Great call on responsibility and expressing what it really is but, what if all you have mentioned is still ‘just the bare minimum’ and there was in fact a far deeper and greater responsibility than what you have presented to be lived, that is not a burden but instead a joy. For this is the responsibility Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine live and shows all it is possible to do so.
There are so many rules, regulations, procedures and trainings for workplace to ensure the ‘quality’ box is ticked. Yet what is covered in this blog in its simplicity is by far the most significant factor in ensuring great quality in any aspect of life.
Gosh.This is so true Golnaz. Lawyers, health and safety officers, share-holders and the like all implementing stringent practices and guidelines – yet none of them have any true care for the employees and none of them ask the employees to take true responsibility for themselves and their actions. In fact so many of the laws and guidelines in the workplace are actually perfectly designed to absolve us of our responsibility. It’s a tiny example but it has always struck me – I remember about thirty years ago buying a Hot apple pie from Macdonalds. On the packet it said “Caution filling may be hot”. It’s called a HOT apple pie! So my question is – what kind of responsibility levels are we considering acceptable, when a customer might sue a company for burning their mouth when eating something that they have chosen to buy and have actually said the words “please may I have a HOT apple pie.”????
I love all of this. The responsibility you have claimed is not just about the workplace and how we are at work, the same applies on a family day at home, or in fact any day of any week. If on a Friday night we don’t take the same level of responsibility, what does our family get the next day?
Choosing to live responsibly, that is living me from my essence in all areas of life is so very freeing. Not one role being played here and another there etc., which is exhausting. The most brilliant and energizing tonic to living is to live from my true essence with everyone and everything equally. For me this is the key to well-being, vitality and joy.
I was talking to a friend recently about the shocking rates of bullying at our workplaces. I feel that choosing to live irresponsibly fosters and creates an environment where it is a perfect breeding ground for abuse, bullying and competition. How we choose to live outside of work affects how we are at work. If our workplaces have high rates of abuse and bullying what does that tell us about our life outside of work?
I feel we all know what true responsibility looks and feels like but it is very obvious when I look at what is around me, that humanity has simply chosen to forget what responsibility means, therefore this conveniently allows us to live irresponsibly.
‘One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.’ – Very true Terri-Anne – it is crucial to know that true responsibility works around the clock, there is no ‘off time’ or assuming because no one is around we can drop responsiblility and behave differently.
Responsibility and purpose go hand in hand, hence the lack of responsibility shows a lack of true purpose. Getting the purpose right means getting responsibility right.
The common attitude of looking forward to the weekend and having time off from work is just one example of how many people compartmentalize life and so it is done with responsibility, we measure it to the task or situation or people we are involved with. When do we start to relate to ourselves, the way we are and live with us and everyone in everything we do? Instead of measuring responsibility towards an outer how about gauging it to our inner?
Repeatedly I’ve heard the phrase ‘Leave your home stuff at home’ or similar terms. But is this even possible? Because I have found home stuff following me into work and work following me home if I don’t deal with it where it starts. Anything that goes unresolved builds a pressure within us or festers and changes our perception of others. Which makes it our responsibility to de-brief, wind down and build that supportive relationship with ourselves and others to have those moments where we can address any issues. The ripple affect of dealing with our stuff is huge.
I remember going on a stag weekend many, many years ago. There was an expression “what goes on Stag, stays on Stag”. Meaning that whatever happened over the weekend doesn’t get brought back into the rest of our lives. How naive we were!
What I see, more and more, in this world is that so many of us have been trending toward a very surface kind of existence; putting in only the ‘minimum responsibility’, as Terry-Anne puts it, and we are often not even managing that!
On the surface this can ‘look’ like a successful life… but it is far from it.
With true responsibility comes true success… for us all.
Yes very well said Terri-Anne. And also how sometimes the bare minimum as you described it is actually not being responsible at all, sometimes to be responsible is to speak up when we feel the way how things are done is not true and right instead of being affirming of what is there for instance.
It’s very true that we can’t compartmentalise responsibility – how we are in one area of our life impacts on all other areas too…
That includes the fact that when we are responsible in one area, it becomes easier to be responsible in other areas.
‘It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.’ It is amazing to feel the impact of taking responsibility in our workplace, everything seems so much easier to deal with..
When I bring focus to the quality of my movements when doing a job I find I don’t judge or set a value on any one task above another because I’m not making it about the job (‘menial’ or ‘important’) but about the quality of whatever it is that’s being done.
So true Rosanna – it is the quality we bring that transforms any task to a meaningful and joy-filled service being offered, rather than looking for the task to bring us meaning and pleasure.
I love the way you capture this Sandra, that it’s the quality we bring that transforms any task into a meaningful one.
So many people can tick the boxes of turning up to work on time, performing their tasks, dressing appropriately for the job, etc but how many of us can tick the box that says ‘I take responsibility for the quality that I call me – all of the time’?
What is shared here makes so much sense, so why is it we don’t give our work, work mates, family, friends or our daily life a second thought when we choose to eat and drink foods that we know affect us or make us feel tired and irritable? Have we totally lost our sense of worth that we find it easy to disregard how others deserve us to be, because we have not asked ourselves to live what we deserve?
Responsibility in the workplace starts well before we walk through the door and includes everything that isn’t necessarily seen or heard by others.
Makes me think about two things for starters. One, that why not give equal pay for everyone in the workplace? Right now we give the one’s with the higher education and position higher wages and measure that way but what if the cleaner was the one that made the workplace feel great and light for everyone, wouldn’t that count as a major contributor towards the company running smooth and making everyone feel light and productive? Maybe in the future I will get to see this, or in my future company maybe. I forgot about the second thing so maybe I will come back to the blog another time.
Amazing Terri-Anne. Responsibility has been defined at a certain level, but hasn’t been made the norm to realise that how we live in every way affects the all, not just how we present and the attitude we show at work. The culture of switch on at work switch off at home or anywhere else is just not working!
Brilliant Terri-Anne, imagine if what you present here formed the heart of every work place induction? Perhaps then we might finally see that it’s our responsibility to hold other people and ourselves as divine beings, multi-dimensional Sons of God, so much more than just the physical body we know. I feel like maintaining this deep knowing would change job satisfaction and productivity overnight.
What we do over who we are, we are conditioned to believe that our being is not enough, and this is encouraged through rewards children get from a young age for achievements. This then develops into our workplaces where our focus is always on completing the task, but not how our being is in the task. Yet we look for quality work so surely in this we are missing a big trick. Great to hear this expressed, thanks Terri-Anne.
These are wonderful questions, Terri-Anne, that reveal without judgement how powerful we are in the choices we make, and what true responsibility looks like – not as a burden but simply as a loving way of being in each moment.
If we are not choosing to take responsibility for how we are and the choosing we make then we soon begin to expect others to cover up this lack of responsibility. That is how many relationships are where essentially an arrangement is made and the irresponsiblility is hidden as the other is covering it up with filling in the gaps.
It is true what you are saying Terri-Anne, our perception of responsibility at work comes in a form I now challenge too. Only because I understand the extent of what true responsibility is, and honestly as each day passes this awareness expands.
There is not too much more to add to how Terri-Anne summed it up however, I have discovered the more responsibility I have chosen and accepted the more joyful and fun work has become. To me work is 24/7 I love it.
There is work to be done – plenty! So many people to connect to and bring the feeling I have about work to them whether they like it or not that’s the fun to hold myself consistently all day everyday..
Thank you for redefining responsibility and taking it to that deeper level. We do seem to stop short at your first description of responsibility, but to consider being responsible also means ‘more about how we live as a whole…’ and the quality we choose in every moment gives a whole new definition to the word.
A great call Terri-Anne. It’s impossible to be totally fit for work if we don’t take the time to support ourselves fully in our time outside work. So many of us struggle through the day due to poor unloving choices that make us exhausted, hungover, racy, or depressed. This just makes our job harder and our lives more miserable. As much as self-care may sound boring it actually makes us feel amazing, which is not boring at all. We then have more of a chance of enjoying our job, and doing a good job, therefore contributing more and gaining more job satisfaction. It makes sense all round.
I am with you on this Rebecca. I too am aware self care can be perceived by others as a punitive way of living. Not at all. Rather it is bathed in love. With true self care we reap the rewards and enter each day with energy, purpose and joy.
It is true we have a set of rules which we see as being a responsible employee but we do not see that it is our responsibility to bring this body of ours to work fully rested, without disruptive thoughts, walking in a way that is not disturbing to others, nourished correctly with food, and the list goes on. It is as if no one talks about it then we can pretend it isn’t happening, just like when we are young and put our hands over our eyes and believe that because we can’t see them they can’t see us.
This changes the whole scope of responsibility and presents it in a way that is fully lived and not just a list to tick boxes. Thank you for sharing that responsibility can be in our movements, in our self care, in our integrity and in transparency. To bring this to the workplace is so inspiring for others and the more I do this, the more people start to be interested in the way I live rather than how I am just at work.
“One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.” When we understand this we begin to understand true responsibility and what it really means.
Thanks for this Terri-Anne. What you are writing here makes total sense and takes our understanding of responsibility to a new level. We are often blind to our choices believing that they affect no one but ourselves. In truth our choices affect everyone all of the time and this you have clearly highlighted.
True responsibility as you have detailed it is what I understand true responsibility to be but this has not always been the case. What come through strongly and can be felt is the quality of these choices and the stillness they offer. This has been so beautifully articulated Terri-Anne and exposes the difference between a good employee who does all the right things e.g. exercise, eat well, get along with everyone, always start on time and never gossip or talk about others, and one that may also do all of these things but also brings a quality of presence and living way where their connection to their body brings an honesty and love. Great blog Terri-Anne, thank you.
Spot on in my book Terri-Anne and something I work on every day. Responsibility is a way of life, not something we can choose to pick up and put down when we feel like it. There is no down time but far from being a burden, in my experience this is a joy that supports us to drop blame. The world is a very different place when it is filled with responsibility rather than judgment.
Love this Terri-Anne, because there is so much more to us than turning up and doing the job. Everyone has masses to contribute to their workplace and the relationships therein just by being ourselves and taking care of ourselves in all aspects of life. Beautifully written blog.
Why isn’t this taught in schools, our schools focus on results and not the quality these results are delivered with.
This is a great point you are making Terri-Anne, especially because so many people get affected at the workplace. Generally we try to pin it to what we do, but in fact our relationships and the way we are with each other have a much greater impact on our well-being.
Thank you, Terri-Anne – you make it so clear how it is not possible to put a responsibility hat on only when we think we need to. Life is spherical, nothing can be separated from the whole.
Absolutely Terry-Anne I whole heartedly agree, how we live affects everything and everyone, the fact that we really don’t want to acknowledge this fact is pretty much proof of the fact!! We don’t want to know that our angry outbursts at home affect our whole street energetically. But yet we know from quantum physics that with the boiling of an egg the entire universe responds to that heat expansion and accommodates it. Yet we don’t then put two and two together that our anger which we all can feel has an energy out put to it affects the universe as well. Interesting how we collectively choose ignorance over responsibility.
I’ve never been taught nor thought about how boiling an egg impacts the whole universe but of course it makes total sense which means we really cannot deny that when we move, walk, sleep and talk that this too must be impacting everything and everyone around us.
Terri-Anne great blog, what it shows me is our responsibility towards ourselves first, this then surely has an effect on others, so for me what you say here makes complete sense
” It is only reasonable to say then that true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.”
Terri-Anne I loved your description of the two different examples of responsibility at work. In some ways I could not fault the first description that you shared and yet it felt rather one dimensional; sort of grey and rather lifeless. The second description however felt full and expansive and my whole body felt like it was saying a resounding ‘yes’ to the truth of what you have so eloquently shared.
I agree Terri it is super important to be consciously present in all our movements so that we are able to bring complete focus and dedication to each task, along with a commitment to each and every task, not seeing any part as less, or more, important than the other. This is true responsibility.
A great blog Terri-Anne, that offers a deeper level of understanding on the true meaning of responsibility. Living with responsibility is a way of life filled with true communication, purpose and energetic integrity for the all, rather than the accepted separate and ‘driven’ way of being responsible in ticking all the boxes to make things function well.
Serge Benhayon is a living inspiration for true responsibility where how we are with ourselves and everyone else is the same wherever we are and whoever we are with. Our collective responsibility is to reflect the love of who we are back to the Universe.
“One thing is for certain; everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.”
To understand this is to understand true responsibility.
To describe work as ‘just a job’ dismisses everyone we work with and misses the point. When work is integral to who we are it transforms our relationship with the job and colleagues and becomes something we want to do not have to do.
Great points about responsibility here – it is not about quantity but about the quality we deliver our work in; everything gets taken care of that way.
Terri-Anne this a music to my ears, and amazing to read – it is everything that true responsibility is yet a reflection of how far from that our workplaces are at this point in time. We talk about fostering company culture of responsibility, that it comes from how we live and breath and move and certainly there is a big step up for us to bring this level of responsibility to work but what an incredible difference it would make.
A question often posed on workplace courses on service is this: ‘Who are your customers?’ My answer is ‘Everyone’.
Terri-Anne what you share deepens our understanding of true responsibility. Life is not compartmentalised into zones, there is one life, how we are affects everything and there is no on-off switch. We prepare for our day by being consciously present in each movement. Connect and treasure each one, it is god given.
Wow, I love what you are bringing to the fore here Terri-Anne, it is so simple and makes so much sense. Life is one life and not pieces selected and chosen, every area counts and has an effect on everything else.
Living in London and driving is easy to see the effect of one person having a bad day. It starts with one person blowing their horn and if whatever caused this reaction doesn’t clear in a short time, the horns become a chorus.
We tend to chop our days into parts, and a big one is work and life, as so well known from the term ‘work-life balance’. But what if our lives are actually one-life, all the same whenever we are at work or at home and ‘live life’ as proposed in the term. There is no switch on or off for going to work, it is all the same and with that, how we are now has its effect on how we are next as a continuous cycle of life and in this very moment we will be the product of all that what we have lived before. To me that is taking responsibility to life and when we do this at home we will do the same at our work as we bring a body and being that is responsible because it knows it is an equally important part of the whole.
Love what you have shared Terri-Anne: ” . . . true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do.” For me this is a game changer and is a very good way to wipe out all the comparison, corruptions and greed.
Brilliant and real blog Terri-Anne… One that needs to be written because this is definitely not the norm in most workplaces or in most homes. We can either be completely blessed by another’s presence in the workplace or wounded by reacting to theirs and our own baggage. What I find, is even bringing a little bit of understanding to someone’s behaviours can and does defuse situations and restores at times harmony and respect.
Your closing statement captures it all… “true responsibility in the workplace is more about how we are within ourselves, and the quality in which we go about our day, not what we do…” A solution to any workplace conflict for sure!
Love your clear explanation Terri-Ann and what you say is common sense It just leaves us to choose our common sense.
You’re absolutely right Terri-Anne, the practical responsibilities that encompass going to work ought to be the mere by-product of the foundational responsibility we have first and foremost which is to bring our full selves to work, vital, clear and solid and hence fully ready to contribute, to work and to serve our fellow colleagues, customers and community, as we merrily go about our working day.
Yes indeed. The picture of each of us having bad days and how we would interact with each other should be warning enough to be the change we want to see in our lives and in the world. Only we can be that change and work will essentially be what we make it. Approaching each day as a whole has completely changed my experience of life.
Beautiful, Terri-Anne, love what you are sharing ‘everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond’ – therefore, true responsibility is living in a way that honours the understanding of this in each moment, knowing that how we are now, affects everyone else now and into our next moment, unless we choose to shift how we are, thereby changing the energy we are in and the energetic ripple we are sending out.
I find that the way we move in each moment then determines the next and so on and so forth. That is reflected in the way we live everyday. Building a strong foundation of self care aids us and our day to day living and the responsibility to bring all that we are to everything we do also.
It is true that our first and foremost responsibility is to our connection within ourselves, how we are with ourselves… and then it is that quality that we take out into the world and to whatever it is we do.
Really every choice we make matters as it affects everyone and all around us. If we did actually live with this level of responsibility to the best of our ability and awareness we would see a very different world. It is empowering and a joy to know that it takes each of us to make such a movement of change.
It’s great to stumble onto this, it is so true that what goes on in our lives cannot be separated from work. However, something I have learned recently is that regardless of what may be going on in our heads it is our duty to do our best whatever we may be doing – working, cleaning, even walking.
With all that you have wisely shared here Terri-Anne and through my deepening relationship with responsibility, through which there is always more to learn and embrace, I can honestly say that life is enrichened to no end when we consider the impact we have on everything through the choices we make throughout our day. In understanding that all is connected, all of us included, we realise that there can be no separation between work, home, play, family, work colleagues, friends or even time by ourselves. We are constantly choosing to be in connection and as such be moved by love or lovelessness. As such is our opportunity for our lives as a whole to be enrichened from every angle through every choice we make highlighting the power we all hold to bring what is true to the world.
In describing how we could be in the workplace, this blog highlights how we currently are – fractured, living compartmentalised and doing the bare minimum to get through work rather than taking a whole-of-life approach. There is no ‘work time’ and ‘off-time’ – there is just the one life and, lived with the kind of responsibility and integrity described here, we’re always ‘on’ in it.
One of our greatest ills is the choice to separate work from play. Such a division affects us very deeply even though we for the most part do not give it much thought, for it allows us to have an on/off switch in terms of how much we apply ourselves to the task at hand in any given moment. What this means is that the quality of our movements are subject to images of what it is to ‘work’ and what it is to ‘play’. I.e. work = not much fun (only if you are ‘lucky’) and play = lots of fun but often with very little connection in the sense that we check out and ‘relax’ with no true purpose. What this set-up means is that we rob ourselves and others of the fullness of our true expression on both sides of the equation rather than seeing life as one homogenous whole in which every part we live is of equal importance to every other part and it is this quality of Oneness that ensures the integrity of all that we live.
‘What if true responsibility was all about being the real you and bringing your all to each moment in your day at work?. To do this we need to bring our all to every, each and every, moment, wherever we are. This is not usually something we are used to doing so a willingness and an ever deepening honesty is key.
To add to the ‘what if’ scenarios… What if everyone lived in line with what is suggested here? We’d have a very beautiful, productive and supportive workplace culture world-wide.
It is very important to get known with this fact of responsibility being much more that just taking our place in a company, but being caring for ourselves and in the moment is just as important.
As I read through this blog I could just feel how beautiful true responsibility is as it takes in and considers the whole and not just the part, that is it considers everyone.
You bring a whole new meaning to what is usually understood by the term ‘responsibility’. It encompasses how we live all of our lives, the quality with which we do everything and not just covering the time we are at work and behaving ‘responsibly’ there. Great post, thankyou.
“Everything that we do, say, think and feel has an impact on everyone we come into contact with, and beyond.” – this can be felt in any ‘team’ – be it the work team or the family ‘team’ or the friends ‘team’ – Have you ever noticed how the whole team gets affected when one person does not pull their weight? I like to compare it to one of those big rowing boats – when part of the team stops rowing then essentially the rest of the team members must take on more in order to keep the boat going in the right direction and at the right pace, and even then the boat will slow down and often go off course. Or even a team member that complains or winges about a job – that too impacts on others and makes things more difficult for everyone else. On the other hand when all family members and all team members at work or elsewhere all are happy to contribute and support in a full and complete way, not just doing their jobs and ticking the boxes, but doing it with the joy of knowing that each thing they do has a purpose and can support the team. True harmony in the team really comes from each of us bringing ourselves in full but also from the fact that each and every one of us has specific qualities that only we can bring – like the ingredients to recipe – without which the final product is actually incomplete in some way. As Terri-Anne has so beautifully said, there is a great responsibility in true responsibility for it is far more than the actual act of what we do – it has also everything to do with how we go about it, in other words the quality that we bring in all its big and small details and repercussions.
This makes absolute sense to me. We can’t compartmentalise our lives and to think we can is an absolute illusion.
“If responsibility in the workplace was much more than ticking the boxes of our job requirements and turning up to work on time, and more about how we lived as a whole, then we can see that our home life, social life and work life is no different. In fact one impacts the other, and how we are in each area of life then impacts all the people in our lives.” – We cannot isolate parts of our lives and think that one part is separate from another. In my experience too as I grow in one area of my life, then my responsibility also lies in bringing that same level of growth to the other areas of my life so that all areas can be balanced so to speak. If I hold back on this growth in another area then essentially I am saying no to that growth over all. It is like realising that you cannot be a truly loving and caring person with others, if behind the scenes you do not care nor love yourself nor your home and family. This is the way that we can grow for in all areas of our lives we constantly have lessons and reflections to learn and grow from – the question is ‘do we see these for the opportunities they are?’
Life isn’t a show, it’s not wearing different masks. We’re not to be polite, nice, well-dressed etc. We’re to be raw, real, caring and loving. This requires a day and night full of commitment to ourselves. In every detail. Life’s constant. It doesn’t pause. Life’s ‘teaching’ us that we’re capable of bringing love to everything we do, simply by connecting to our love within our body. Thank you for writing such a clear blog on true responsibility.
Great blog Terri-Anne, I love how you open up for us what true responsibility is all about. It goes far beyond just what we do and our roles because fully taking responsibility means there is no on or off switch, every choice, every thought, every movement and express matters, and it affects us all. Understanding this and choosing to live true responsibility is very empowering.
From personal experience I can say that how I care for myself directly reflects how I feel at work. The quality of how I am directly reflects to what I do, so if I’m not enjoying work then I’m simply not enjoying being with myself.
What this shows is there is so much more to us as people than our current expectations of responsibilities in the workplace implies. In our interactions, our purpose and reason for working, our contribution in the workplace (and to life in general) we are clearly capable of bringing a quality of being that is far beyond the usual expectations of one another in life.
Well said Jenny, we opt for accepting our current expectations of responsibility because if we accepted that what was outlined at the beginning here was the mere bare minimum then we would all have to have a good hard look at the choices we make on a daily basis and accept that these would have to change.
Exactly Fiona, we do like to pretend ignorance of these deeper and more subtle aspects of energetic integrity and responsibility, but we actually have to work quite hard to maintain our pretence, and our bodies show it.
Amen Terri-Anne. What we take take into our workplace is a by-product of how we have been outside of work, the same way what we take home at the end of a work day is a by-product of our workday.
I have recently learnt that what we bring to work is all that we have lived before hand, not just what we want to portray in that moment.
Definitely Michael – there is no last minute doing, it’s all about the long game.
A great expansion and offering to the reader on what true responsibility is, thank you Terri-Anne.
Responsibility is in a redefine and no longer is just a thing to do or reflect because something has gone wrong. I can only say and, like many things this word’s meaning has been played around with and if we look at where we stand with it now and then look back in history you can almost see the steps away. We see history as something done in the past which makes sense but don’t equally see that what was and is done is actually impacting on us now. We see it as something to learn from but in more of a ‘do it better’ or ‘not do that again’ rather than a reflection on what was truly going on. It’s almost as though we put ourselves on a track that returns itself to the start line because the way we have gone about things hasn’t paid it’s respects to the quality, we haven’t truly taken ‘responsibility’ for all we do and we just leave it to the just do enough crowd. Like the article is saying how do we view “responsibility in the workplace”, is it just a 9 to 5 job or less than that. Everything we do is with us, the energy can’t be dressed up or down and so in that work never starts or stops, just like life never starts or stops it’s just one endless loop. The next time you make a tea or a coffee first thing in the morning check where you are, are you in the kitchen making it or is part of you thinking about something else, we can’t just turn that off. Our responsibility never rests, anything you do and don’t deal with truly is with you at all times, no matter the time of day or the appointment heading.
I love how you have talked about ‘just do enough crowd’ – we have all fallen for this at some point where we feel we want to be elsewhere and are just there to tick the box and make it look like we have completed a job, but without the true quality and presence. This makes it appear like we have taken responsibility for something because we can point to a physical ‘thing’ we have done to ‘prove’ it, but in fact, there is an absence of the quality of what we could truly bring to the table. And this has to be traced back to a previous time where perhaps we dropped the ball on something else for whatever reason it was. AS you have said Ray, our responsibility never rests, for everything we do, everything we choose any minute is there to be with us through the whole day and beyond, and essentially these little choices are the ones that pave the path ahead of us they either lead to further empowerment of our lives and hence true responsibility or on the contrary a disempowerment and hence a watered down version of responsibility in life.
We could say then there is true responsibility where you are looking at every step being a part of every decision and everything being the ‘one’ life. There is also a another version we would call not true where you are continuing to do things at critical moments or when things get really bad to make up for times when you ‘dropped the ball.’ You see it more as a start stop thing where we only need to be responsible when it counts. It makes so much more sense to live responsibility consistently throughout your life, that way there is no room for anything else and you don’t even need to think about it, you just are it. I see the analogy of weeding a garden you can do it as a one off and then the garden would be overgrown, you could do it whenever it’s getting bad and then dedicate some time then to it or you could have it a part of your every day just touching the ground and tending to what is needing to be done. That way like you just wake up you would find yourself just tending to the garden. I know a garden can be more visual for us but life is no different we just need to choose to change our view. Work with true responsibility consistently and your life will blossom and your view will never be the same. Choose another version and then like any garden there will be times it is good and then times it’s not, a living consistency is a key to everything.
It makes perfect sense that the quality we live is affecting every area of our life and everyone we meet and beyond. I guess most people will understand that but the question is how willing are we to take the necessary action and develop such responsible quality. This is very personal and at times even challenging but nevertheless not just possible but beneficial for oneself and everyone. Time to cultivate this awareness; the world needs it.
Its so important that we consider how we are when we walk through the doors at work and that we realise that we simply can’t flick a switch and leave behind how we are outside of work. It all matters. It matters if I am tired and exhausted from lots of late nights and not having restful sleep; it matters if I am rushing for work; it matters if I am having arguments at home before work. I bring all of that with me, if I am not bringing awareness and completion to these types of things. It’s the same if this happens at work and we bring them home.
Completely agree Terri-Anne – true responsibility is a 24/7 way of living and not something we can switch on and off. It is so deeply gorgeous and nourishing to live in a loving and responsible way so why would we want to switch it off anyway?
Amazing how being responsible actually feeds us back energy! This is phenomenal to feel and seems crazy but the more we take on in a true way, the more it grows us and empowers us and as you have said Nicola, why would we want to stop that or switch that off! Now the part for me to work on is in appreciating this more deeply, and realising that this appreciation of self and others is also a large part of being responsible too!
Yes it is true one of the many ways we can be irresponsible is by not appreciating ourselves and others!
For example, many of us like to self-flagellate and even invent non-existent issues to have the identification of then solving them rather than simply accept and live our awesomeness as it is without perfection!
Love this Terri-Anne, it’s so true that love doesn’t have an off switch and hence neither does responsibility.
Which Susie, leads to the natural conclusion that it is everybody’s constant responsibility to be love constantly.