MadRabbit -> RE: How much responsibility do you take? (9/9/2008 9:23:01 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth quote:
I think it is a very romantic notion and sentiment to claim "complete and total responsibility for everything" in a relationship, but it, unfortunately, doesn't bare any resemblance to the realities of accountability Come now MR, the "romantic notion" is only romantic from the outside looking in. Responsibility isn't for making the heart beat, but the environment that it beats. It's not romantic, its not even that difficult as long as both parties want and agree to it. Accountability references a desire to blame; commonly having negative connotations. Consider that accountability can also be a good thing, even a desired thing. No insurance for positive results, but beneficial to our definition of a 'healthy' relationship none the less. For the sake of debate, lets take your side. Being totally accountable, or totally responsible, may be; like perfection, an impossible goal. But I'd argue that it is still a goal worthy of pursuing. Similar to the pragmatic reality that it is impossible to be perfect, striving for anything less, to us, would be striving for something less than perfection. My question to you-why bother? That's just my opinion on the subject and it doesn't extend beyond me and my own lifestyle. Like anything, I welcome you to disagree with me and pursue whatever philosophy you see fit. The way I see it, there is two ways to look at "responsibility". One is a quality in which one possesses similar to other qualities like "integrity" and "competence". If we are defining responsibility in that way, I say strive for perfection. The other way is in terms of "accountability", not in a sense of "blame", but rather in terms of the origin of an action or the assignment of a task to complete. I find that in any relationship, the share of the work that is involved for the success of that relationship or the completion of an endeavor is divided among the people involved. In a power based relationship, that distribution might be 60/40 or 70/30, but in an honest assessment, to say that the dominant is the sole origin of all actions and the preceding consequences or the completer of all tasks is pretty false. Case in point, I am not responsible for the submission of my partner. If I was, the search process for a compatible partner would be a lot less difficult! I could just find someone compatible with me in a basic sense and then make them submissive as the origin of that submission! But I'm not....and they are the one's responsible for their submission to me. It is my responsibility to make decisions and their responsibility to fulfill and respect them. If they don't fulfill that responsibility, then the relationship will come to an end with me walking out the door.
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