Last Saturday morning brought this month’s new moon, and the time for a new focus for me. January was self-discipline, February was Trust – but as I was moving through trust issues (which I think I’ll be doing for all of my days, just with varying degrees of intention), I made the connection between Trust and Responsibility. Welcome to March.
A few years ago when I read “The Four Agreements” I really was drawn to “be impeccable with your word”. When we say something to someone – whether we’ll call, we’ll write, we’ll join the meeting, complete the status report, whatever – when we agree to do a thing, we’re asking that person to Trust us. To trust that, as they saying goes, our word is our bond. Socrates is attributed to saying “False words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.” The book of Numbers (Numbers 30:2, NIV) says “When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.”
This bond, this contract, establishes honor and integrity with the people we live, work, and play with – but also reinforces a sense of integrity in ourselves. We see ourselves as responsible. But this also pushes us to be responsible to ourselves – so we know we’re doing our best to take care of ourselves and our own needs and find that balance between being responsible to ourselves as well as to others.
So yeah – this month is about Responsibility – and has already resulted in some deep questions and some interesting changes. I’m curious to see where moving further down this path takes me.