Take some responsibility! That's a lesson I wish more people would learn. Yesterday I got into an online slanging match, something I usually avoid, with an online friend (I actually do like the guy). Basically the arguement was about failing to take responsibility for one's actions. Instead of saying, "Hey, I messed up, I'm sorry" people launch personal attacks like, "Must be that time of the month." Why can people simply not accept that their actions are of their own doing, that if they have done something to upset someone they hold some of the blame?

Here's the deal as given to me by a very wise man some years ago: You are responsible for your own feelings, thoughts and actions. Simple huh? I think most people know this, they just choose to ignore it. Now, it works both ways. If something is said and somebody gets upset, who is to blame? The answer is both parties, the first for choosing to say/do something upsetting and the second for choosing to become upset. Notice the choice of words, it's deliberate. Your feelings are choices, very powerful choices. Some people claim they cannot control their feelings, I disagree. You can control them, it takes time and practise. Work at it, rule your emotions rather than having them rule you. Then, when somebody pisses you off, you can choose not to become angry and save yourself some energy. Of course if they're trying to piss you off, you win.

We're all interconnected and the choices we make have more effect than we think. So try it, try accepting that nobody can make you feel anything, that you choose to feel something. That if somebody gets upset with you, it might be a result of your actions. I truely believe most people know this somewhere deep down in our minds, we are often too deluded to realize it.

As Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, said, "All know the way, but few actually walk it"