This week, I would like to revisit the same topic I wrote about a few weeks back regarding personal pressure and goals. In addition, I will be discussing the topics of recovery and accountability in situations that force us into unwanted circumstances.

According to Merriam-Webster, accountability is defined as “an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions”.  What I have learned is that the form of accountability is a huge part of what sets personal events apart from being in the workplace or part of an organization.

While in school, I am left to hold myself accountable for my actions. I am responsible for ensuring my papers are turned in on time, arriving on time for exams or meetings, and overall that each organization that I am a part of is getting my best work. My teachers aren’t responsible for hunting me down and reminding me to complete assignments, I have to discipline myself to carry out those obligations.

One of the aspects of being a part of a group is that I have other people counting on me. When something is asked of me I have other people there that are expecting me to complete tasks and do so in a way that meets their expectations, if not exceeds them.

I have always been someone that is constantly striving to do better; nothing ever seems sufficient in my book. There is always something more than I could have done that would have been bigger or better. While this can be a strength, it can also be a weakness. There comes a time where someone can take on too much, and their personal limits are overstretched: they are spread too thin. Being the organized and prepared individual that I am, when something falls short of what is expected of me, recovery is my enemy.

Throughout those occasions where I may fall short of my goals or responsibilities, what I have learned is that the only way to recover is to use it as a learning experience. Sometimes we can be our own adversary by taking on too much. While there is nothing wrong with being extensively involved, the most important part is realizing that my limits are different than anyone else, therefore it would be unfair to compare my involvement to others’ involvement and not accept that it was too much for me personally.

So this week, I am holding myself accountable in moving forward from an occasion that was not something I planned for, nor was it something I accepted easily. The only way to grow is to push limits, and I may have pushed too hard in this instance. So my lesson learned for this week is sometimes we lose things; sometimes we fall short. How you recover is what determines your personal perception of the experience in hindsight, and looking back with a bitter heart will never provide the recovery necessary to move on to bigger and better things in the future.

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