Taking On Responsibilities

[caspex]

In a gym, you lift weights to strengthen your body, you increase the weights, until your body reaches it's full potential. If you lift too much at a time, you may tear a muscle, bend a joint, get a injury so bad that you may not be able lift the same way ever again. Lift too less or not at all, and you'll never tap into the potential strength your body is capable of.

It seems to me that this is quite similar to taking on responsibilities in life. Consider a responsibility a weight and you can only bear responsibility of that which you are capable, too much and you are crushed under the pressure, too less and you never grow up. More importantly, it's important to notice the pattern that, when you bear a responsibility successfully, you become capable of taking on more. You're mind, heart and character becomes stronger and you are able to handle more suffering, duties and responsibilities.

People who are very strong in their mind, heart and character, through this process of progressively becoming more responsible and caring, seem to me like some of the most beautiful people in humanity. They are like a beautiful crystal in midst of lumps of mud like us. For me, a person with high integrity beats a person with good looks anytime, although, provided that, a person with both beats even that.

So, for growth regarding integrity, one could progressively, but carefully, increase the load onto themselves as they become stronger. I see many people who are scared of suffering, but as Leo also said in his blog recently, sharp emotional experience is what changes you on the deepest level.

Edited January 15 by Swarnim

[bebotalk]

at the least, we have responsibilities to ourselves. 

This can be in terms of achieving goals, or living by our own values and morals. 

[bebotalk]

A general principle is that there is always an opportunity cost for every action. 

Responsibilities are often the costs of actions. If one has a job, there is a responsibility to do it well. If one has kids, there is a responsibility to look after them.