Responsibility on Shoulders
When people say “You have so many responsibilities on your shoulders,”
sometimes we fail to realize what they’re really talking about.
But I figured it out a little today. Let me share.
“Responsibilities on your shoulders” doesn’t have a complex meaning—
but rather, a simple truth that’s hard to swallow.
See, from the day we are born until the day we die,
we believe ourselves to be responsible enough to handle small things.
It starts as a child, when we ask our mother to take responsibility for feeding us.
We are safe, in a bubble—happy and secure.
As we grow up, we begin to trust ourselves a little.
Our brains develop, and we start thinking we’re capable enough to handle a little struggle.
We begin picking up things, thinking we’re responsible enough to carry a bit of weight.
Turns out—we are.
We establish trust.
Slowly and steadily, we begin to trust ourselves more.
We start taking on bigger things—
sometimes just making tea for everyone,
sometimes helping someone solve a wifi issue.
We get trusted more—and we keep taking on more and more.
There are times we may fail, too.
That breaches our trust a lot.
We start thinking maybe we can’t handle struggle as well as we thought.
We lose confidence.
We lose ourselves.
Eventually, we may see a small win here or there—and the momentum continues.
The real problem comes when there’s a big breach in trust—
and we fail to show up for ourselves multiple times.
We get lazy. We get occupied.
We get emotional in our day-to-day and keep delaying responsibility.
That’s when we start going down.
The trajectory changes completely.
The “responsibility” I keep mentioning here isn’t just tasks—
it’s societal and moral responsibility:
the responsibility we feel for our parents,
our friends,
our loved ones,
and even through our careers.
The day we start declining badly,
we eventually lose our sense of self
and start believing that we’re not capable enough.
We struggle just to maintain our basics,
yet somehow, we still think we can handle more.
We keep taking more—
and eventually, we get burnt out.
The key to moving forward is actually quite simple, I think.
I kept trying to understand other things,
but nothing worked until I came to this conclusion:
We need to check off at least one area
where we think we can still excel.
or it could be taking care of our family more intentionally.
We need to go back to the basics and spend time there.
Usually, when you’re falling down,
it’s because your foundation has become weak.
It needs your support.
Therefore—
let’s support this.
Let’s start pushing ourselves for small responsibilities,
like just waking up early.
Let’s start there.
Maybe if we start at the basics,
we can become who we want to be.
In a world so harsh, make sure you’re not harsh to yourself.