The Importance of Being Responsible

Guys, it's important for us to be responsible, as individuals, as communities, as a society, particularly because very often when we are irresponsible, our actions can have direct and dire consequences, not only for those of us committing the act but also for an entire community of people who we may never have interacted with in our lives.

Sometimes, in fact, our irresponsible actions can have direct consequences for generations after we are gone as we've seen in the case of climate change. Children around the world who aren't even born yet will inherit the world we build today and they will have to deal with the implications of some of the acts we commit knowing them to be irresponsible.

Climate change and our impact on the environment and on wildlife is a macro issue, but on a granular level, as individuals, we are also so very often irresponsible, and again, our actions can have direct and indirect implications for others, including the youth.

This evening, I received a call from my mom. My nephew had been hit while riding his bike near his home. The driver of the errant vehicle was driving without a permit or insurance. He lost control of the vehicle, veered onto the pavement, and collided with my nephew who was thrown from his bike. The bike was crushed and for a brief moment, my nephew was feared dead.

Tonight my nephew is in hospital. He's sustained serious injuries, lost a lot of blood, and is awaiting a CT scan to determine if there are other internal injuries not visible to the human eye, and all because an adult was irresponsible and selfish, driving when he should not have been, driving perhaps when he could not drive, and putting the lives of pedestrians, including my nephew, at risk.

And even as we discussed this as family, none of us could ignore the fact that my nephew could have easily been the victim of a hit and run incident where the driver could have ploughed past him, thinking only of his crime of driving without a permit, and reacted to protect his own safety. He didn't though. He took accountability, stayed on site with my nephew, and now he must face the consequences of his irresponsible act.

Guys, it's a bit difficult for me to gather my thoughts tonight, please forgive me. But the point I am trying to make is that when we, as adults, know better, we should do better.

Irresponsibility is Selfishness

Very often, we irresponsibly bend rules when we deem it to be convenient to do so, and we do it without a thought for the implications of our actions or even the consequences if things go wrong.

Personally, even as a parent, I've had more than my fair share of irresponsible moments, and I've looked the consequences of my irresponsibility in the eye which included implications for my own children. I've regretted them, but the thing is, you cannot erase the past. Once the genie is out of the bottle, it's out, and the most you can do is learn from your mistakes, try to steer others in the right direction so that they don't repeat them, and pave the way for a stronger foundation in the future. But why live with regrets when you could just do the correct thing from the start, right?

And so, friends, please, wherever we are in the world, let's all resolve to be a little bit more responsible every day. And if you're a driver, please abide by the laws. Only get behind a vehicle if you're legally allowed to drive, and when you do, please drive responsibly. A life could depend on it.