No seriously. What are you talking about?

The weather? Your neighbor across the street? Your boss?

Things you can’t do anything about or things you can.

We can get stuck in a groove where we are surrounded by our own and other people’s negative, useless and unproductive conversations.

Why? it makes us feel better. It’s a justification for not taking responsibility.

Maybe we can increase our awareness of what we talk about in a day. Who we surround ourselves with. The questions we ask ourselves. The conversations we have with others.

Are we complaining about others? The circumstances? What someone else has done to us or how they made us feel?

These are all excuses for not taking 100% responsibility for our lives. And until we do, we will continue to play the victim.

Is this how we want to live out our lives in the best version of ourselves as possible?

I’m not so sure. I think there’s greatness in each and everyone of us just waiting to be discovered and cultivated.

And yes that can be frightening.

We can go many years in a world in which we believe everyone else is not so smart, don’t know what they’re doing and have no clue.

Or we can choose to ask ourselves, ‘What is my responsibility in this situation?’ This may be the stronger choice.

When we’re able to take 100% responsibility for our lives is when we can begin to live a functional life. Why? Because we no longer rely on excuses, circumstances or other people’s lack of consistency. It comes down to us, our behaviors and actions.

This can be extremely frightening to some and incredibly powerful for others. Why? We’re on the hook. Period.

In a time where it’s hard to find those who take full responsibility for their actions. We can. And boy what a difference it can make.

We cannot change the past, but only the way we choose to do things in the present moment. And we can indeed take new and different action than we did yesterday.

We can be haunted by our past from what we chose to do and what not to do (It would seem for me, it’s more about what I didn’t do). And I’ve found the best way to dissipate the ghosts of my past is to attack the present moment with passion and fervor.

I’m not a fan of horror movies and I certainly don’t need any more ghosts from my past paying me visits. And so I use engagement and actions in the areas of my life where I’m afraid or unsure of how to move forward as my (Harry Potter) Patronus Charm.

This seems to keep my “demons” at bay.

I’ve heard that it can be determined whether you will be ‘successful’ or not is by watching someone’s behavior for a day.

It would make sense as we are our habits.

Whenever I see someone who I deem to be an avid runner on the streets, I’m amazed at how muscular and toned their legs and calves are.

I used to say to myself, “they have such great legs, they don’t have to run any more.” But, that is exactly why they look the way they do. Because there are no days off. It has become a habit for them and most likely will never quit running on a consistent basis.

As a result of that habit, they have fantastically strong and muscular legs.

This goes for anything we do on a consistent basis. As well as, the opposite direction. If we choose to eat cake everyday we will become over weight and out of shape.

So, it’s important for us to be conscious of what do repeatedly day in and day out.

Let’s choose to do the right activities rather than the things that are going to hold us back and be less than the best of ourselves.

Right? After all, we are what we do in a day.

Who are you?

Sometimes, all we need is a good set of ears and an empathetic person.

When someone is actively listening to us, we feel validated. We feel heard as if someone cares.

It’s not as easy as it sounds, but a good listener goes a long ways.

We can all benefit from such a person in our lives who knows what it means to show up, keep their mouths closed and listen.

And we’ll be there for them the next time around.