EQ Character Builder: Taking Responsibility

An Emotionally Intelligent Note to Parents

 

"Who I am is God's gift to me; who I become is my gift to God."

 

         The importance of taking responsibility for our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and ultimately for the direction of our own life, cannot be overestimated For a child to take responsibility means many things: doing an assigned chore, watching one 's younger brother or sister, getting homework done, following through on what you 'ye been told to do, and so forth. A different meaning is to take responsibility for one 'S own feelings and reactions to situations. This follows the idea that we cannot change other people; we can only change our reactions to them.

        Another example is taking responsibility ("taking ownership “) for one 's own contribution to a problem ('for my part of the problem '. This means recognizing that there usually are two sides to every fight, and usually no one is 100% to blame for an interpersonal problem.

        Finally, we refer to the idea of "taking responsibility for our life, "following the saying, "What we are is God's girl to us; what we become is our gift to God." By each person taking

· responsibility in appropriate ways, we can eventually "change our little corner of the world" and

make the world a better place.

         We discussed with the children the different aspects of taking responsibility, along with the benefits of taking responsibility, such as being able to change a problem once we can identify the ways in which we contribute to the problem..

To summarize, taking responsibility involves:

1. Following through on our assigned responsibilities;

2. Controlling how we react emotionally and behaviorally to situations;

3. Acknowledging our responsibility for our contributions to the problems in our lives; 4. Using the girls and talents we have been given to make the world a better place.

 

Please review the above ideas with your child, and then try the following exercises to reinforce the EQ lessons at home:

 

1. Make a written list of house rules (if you don't already have one) and reinforce with your child the importance of taking responsibility for following these rules.

 

2. Reinforce the fact that our actions have consequences, even if the consequences were unintended. For example, if a friend breaks a play date with your child, the consequences will probably be that your child will feel disappointed, even if the friend had a legitimate reason to break the play date. Point out such unintended consequences as often as possible, to remind your child of the meaning of taking responsibility for the consequences of our actions.

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