Personal Responsibility and Dog Poo

It is the middle of June, and while I generally love the sun, I have to say that right now I am really hoping for rain? Why? Because some dingus left their dog poop in front of my garage and I am waiting for the rain to come wash it away…

Yes, dog poo. I live in a small condo where each unit has it’s own garage. I went down to my car a couple of days ago, opened the garage door, and there, right in front of my garage, was dog poo.

What.

The.

Heck?!?!

What is wrong with people? Why do some people not clean up after their dog, even when the dog poops in public places? Why? Why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why????

I get that a bit of dog poop in front of my garage is not the worst of the world’s problems. But in some way, it is indicative of the world’s problems. Because we’re not really talking about dog poo here, we’re talking about personal responsibility.

If you’re going to own a damned dog, then clean up after your damned dog. Heck, I don’t own a dog but I dog watched for a friend one day and when I took the dog out for a walk, I cleaned up his poo. It’s not that hard!

Is there any doubt that the world would be a better place if everyone just started taking some personal responsibility for the things they go?

But instead of taking responsibility, people like to make excuses, ignore problems, and rely (or demand) that others clean up there mess – sometimes quite literally.

Ignoring your personal responsibility may get you ahead in the very short term; that’s what shortcuts are designed to do. But in the long run, people who avoid taking responsibility fall behind.

There is a term for people who don’t take personal responsibility: Losers

Here are three reasons why taking personal responsibility helps you succeed in the long run:

People Will Respect You

If you raise your hand, say, “I’m sorry, this was my fault,” and then take the steps to fix it, people will respect you. They may be mad at first, but at the end of the day they will respect your character. That is what leads to forgiveness and growth. Also, they will be waaaaay madder if they find out about your screw up from a source other than you. We don’t like people who mess up. We hate people who cover it up.

You’ll Respect Yourself

Ok, this one is a blind generalization and pure conjecture on my part, but I think when you take responsibility for your screw ups, you respect yourself a whole lot more. When you ignore, avoid, or pass along the problem, you respect yourself a little (or whole lot) less. I know this is true for me, and I’d guess that if you were honest with yourself it would be true for you too.

You’ll Grow and Improve

The only way to learn from a mistake is to first acknowledge it. That means taking responsibility. How will you learn and grow from a situation if you ever own up to screwing up? This is why people who don’t take personal responsibility are great big losers. Since the never admit to doing anything wrong, they never see the need to do something different. So they stay in their same little ruts, living the same life every day, repeating the same routines, never growing or improving. By simply saying, “I’m sorry, this is my fault, I’ll fix it,” you take the first step towards self-improvement.

Dog poop is a small thing, but how we act in small day to day situations is usually a good indicator of how we’ll act in big ones.

So the next time you feel an urge to shirk some personal responsibility, take a second to imagine the negligent dog owner. If you wouldn’t want to end up with dog poo on your doorstep, then stand up and take responsibility.

***
Are you planning an event and looking for a great speaker to add humor and energy? Then visit Avish’s Motivational Humorist page now!