#110 / Responsibility

"Responsibility" seems to require that we actually do something about the problems, challenges, and opportunities that confront us. 

But how do we get to that definition from what appears to be the more literal meaning of the word?

Focusing strictly on its constituent parts, the word "responsibility" would appear to derive from an amalgam of the word "response" and the word "ability." Looking at it from that perspective, "responsibility" should mean an "ability to respond."

That is not, however, the definition of the word, as we actually use it. Our language assumes that if we can respond (and have the ability to respond) then we actually should respond, or even must respond. 

"Responsibility" means that we have "a moral, legal, or mental accountability," according to the definition provided by the  online dictionary I consulted. 

I have to admit I feel a "mental accountability" for the human world that I (and all of us) have helped create. I get upset with myself when I realize that I am not, at least enough, responding to the problems, challenges, and opportunities we confront. 

The more we know, I guess, the more we ought to do. 

The hole in the boat is always at our end.

Image Credit:
http://geniusinchildren.org/2013/01/17/taking-responsibility-vs-being-responsible/