Responsibility is very important. It’s something we teach kids as soon as they’re able to understand why they should own up to doing something wrong, and it’s something we take very seriously as adults. We’re responsible for ourselves, for our families, for our jobs, for our homes, and we can even be responsible for what goes on outside as well. That’s why we have the right to vote, after all.
But when it comes down to it, the more responsibility you have to face up to, the more stress you’re going to experience. And that’s not OK – if you’re stressed, your brain and your body aren’t working at their maximum potential, and there’s only a certain point you can reach before you feel like you can’t go on anymore.
So before that happens to you, let’s think about the ways too much responsibility can get to us. It’s important to be aware of the effects of what goes on in our lives, to make sure we always stay in control of it.
You Miss the Details
Most of all, you rush, because you’ve got so many other things to be doing that need to be done by the end of the day at the latest. And that means you miss the details in life, the little things that mean a lot, and can make a huge difference in the outcome of something. For example, at work, you’ve got at least 200 emails in your inbox, which means it’s just not possible to get through them all before your meeting at 10 am. So you skim them, and you don’t read properly – who knows how that could end up?
Similarly, you’re rushing after work as well, when you get home again. You’re trying to get the dinner on the table before 7 pm, to make sure the kids have time to bathe and get to bed with no disruptions. But that means you might miss out on the drawing your child is trying to show you, that they’re very proud of, that you just don’t have time to stop and take a look at. It’s not nice to realize you’ve missed that!
You Don’t Care as Much as You Could
Going on from the point above; when you have too much responsibility to handle, you don’t care about the people and places in your life as much as you really should. Of course, you’re going out of your way to make sure your elderly uncle has everything he needs, but there’s a good chance you don’t have the proper time to dedicate to him.
That could mean someone along the way could suffer. You think the responsibility is yours to take on, and so you do, and you don’t give Alzheimers care a second look. But maybe you should, to lighten the load a little, and realign your priorities in life. The less stressed you feel, the better you think and act, after all.
Too much responsibility isn’t good for anyone – remember that!
