Accountability and Responsibility

If you had to choose between both ways to live and could only choose one, which is more important? Is it more important to be responsible or is it more important to be accountable?

I’ve been thinking about this conundrum for a few weeks, and I believe it is more important to be accountable. I considered the situations that responsibility put us in, and realized that we are all imperfect. There is no way for anyone to be completely responsible and not mess up. If we lived on our own, if we were to only person to exist, there would be no need to be responsible. Living a responsible life means making decisions that will not harm others while also taking into account your future. The balance between the needs of others and your own needs is a very delicate one, and I believe there are decisions we must make that put our own needs first, even if the actions might harm someone indirectly. The only way to be perfectly responsible is to consider every possible situation that could prevent you from following through on a responsibility — and life does offer a variety of ups and downs that can disturb the best laid plans.

We aren’t the only person on this earth, though, and tough decisions have to be made. When a decision must be made to pick our own needs over the needs of others, it may not necessarily be an irresponsible decision to us, but the other party might see it so. We can’t hold anyone else to our own morals and standards, but that is where accountability comes into the picture.

No matter how our actions are judged by others, there is an ongoing need for us to make sure that we are open to hearing the effects of those decisions on the people we effect. I also think we need to look at this from the opposite perspective: when we hold people accountable for their responsibilities, we need to make sure we are solid in the accountability. My parents made mistakes with me in not holding me accountable for all my actions that affected them, and I believe this is something many parents still don’t learn from. When someone breaks a promise or doesn’t follow through on something they’re responsible for, there must be some disciplinary action, even if it is just a talk. If you’re asking for accountability from another person, you also must be aware that you have to be honest with yourself when you mess up — and you also have to accept the disciplinary action that is asked of you, unless you would rather not continue the relationship.

If you have thoughts on this subject, please feel free to discuss them here.

I’m embarassed. I’ve been a home owner for over a decade, and I just caught myself doing something incredibly irresponsible, something that might have cost me hundreds without realizing it. If you’re living on your own and you’re one of the responsible parties of the household, I hope you haven’t been doing the same.

My forced air intake filter is disgusting. With 6 cats and a reduced desire to vaccuum, you’d think I’d check it more often. I seriously can’t imagine how air got through the intake to get recirculated. This means my heating and air conditioning “pumps” have to work harder — much harder — to move the same amount of air to get the temperature right.

The filter was so clogged I’m embarassed to even take a picture of it. For a simple 20″ x 20″ filter that costs under $15 every few months, I really have to consider how much I’ve thrown away in electrical costs.

I realized today that the temperature outside in the Midwest is Spring-like. It is usually during the season changes that I look at the filters. In my case, though, I completely forgot about it. Our intake is behind the couch in a nook that lets air circulate to it nicely from throughout the house. Yet its that same spot that keeps me forgetting about it.

Even if you’re not the responsible party, you might want to go peek at the filter in your residence. If its dirty, you can follow up with the second part of this site: accountability.

Don’t throw your money away.

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