Responsibility As A Superpower

I had booked a rental car at the airport of a city I was in for a workshop. After waiting in line for 2 hours, I was told that my drivers’ license was out of date (my birthday happened a week earlier) and they couldn’t rent me anything. Not something I’d anticipated, since I’d had to renew that license for different reasons a year ago. It meant paying for a taxi to my destination, then Lyft-ing back and forth to my workshop until I could get a temporary renewal and a different rental car.

That was expensive and time-consuming. And tiring. I had planned for possible unforeseen issues, so I did have the time to get things straightened out, but I still missed a few meeting times and wasn’t as prepared as I’d wished.

A few years back, things would likely have been much worse. Then, I didn’t plan for anything unforeseen. Back then, I tended to pack as much into a period of time as I could with the unconscious expectation that nothing would go wrong. I was often late, sometimes missing the timing altogether. And most of the time, I was so stressed that I missed most of what I’d gone there to participate in. Even if I felt I somehow got away with such lousy planning, I didn’t feel good about myself. If anyone said anything, I would feel hard done by and misunderstood.

Not that any of that showed on the outside. On the outside, I looked calm, professional and confident. Inside, I was steering a course towards physical issues, which did eventually catch up on me.

What I’ve learned through personal experience is that most of the issues that get in my way are self-inflicted. They only stopped getting in my way when I changed my outlook and my approach. 

Quote of the Week

Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.

- Sigmund Freud

Extreme ownership

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Maryanne Nicholls is a Registered Psychotherapist.  To find out more, gain access to her weekly newsletter, meditations and programs, sign up at www.thejoyofliving.co . 

If you’re interested in the topic of avoiding burnout for people who do too much, you may be interested in checking out my youtube channel.