I’ve always admired self-awareness as one of the most important qualities in a person. I have even taken pride in thinking that I am decently self-aware myself. This quality allows a person to view themselves through a more objective lens (although never fully objective, as we are always subjective creatures at the end of the day), and to understand their inner workings - the whats and the whys of the world in their minds. However (dramatic pause), it all means nothing if there is no accountability along with our self-awareness. Although last week I wrote about us not being just our actions, it does not excuse us from taking accountability for them when needed.
I can be self-aware in my head and critical of my behaviour (sometimes even a bit too critical), but the truly difficult part comes when I have to take accountability for that behaviour. To say out loud that I am in the wrong, to acknowledge that I have to change my actions, to admit that I have weaknesses in aspects of my life - that is not easy. I could just keep it in my mind and think, “Ok, I acted poorly because I was hurt because of a past experience, now can we just move on?” and convince myself that “At least I’m self-aware!”, but would I really be evolving at all?
True growth happens when we allow our awareness to bring forth things that we need to work on, and actually work on those things. It happens when we take accountability for our mistakes, learn, and grow from them. Admitting our shortcomings is not the same as admitting that we are “bad”, as in our being we are all good. Instead, facing our faults helps us to be wiser with our choices and build better lives for ourselves. Therefore, self-awareness and accountability work hand in hand, and we must recognise the importance of both in guiding us towards what is truly essential and closer to our authentic selves.
Question: When was the last time I took accountability for my actions? What did I learn from the experience?
Affirmation: I am self-aware and accountable for my actions. I improve every single day.
Yours Authentically,
Vanessa