[T]he fact, and only the fact, that we are mortal, that our lives are finite, that our time is restricted and our possibilities are limited, this fact is what makes it meaningful to do something, to explore a possibility and make it become a reality, to fulfil it, to use our time and occupy it. Death gives us a compulsion to do so. Therefore death forms a background against which our act of being becomes a responsibility.*
Viktor Frankl

That’s my responsibility,
Not yours.
Mihály Csikszentmihalyi and
Jonah Paquette
here describe two sides of what happens when
we take responsibility:
Don’t aim at success –
the more you make it your target,
the more you are going to miss it.
For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued:
it must ensue …
as the intended side effect of one’s
personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself.**
As you reflect on how your actions flow outward,
creating a cascade of goodness around you,
you may experience a feeling of awe.^
Responsibility follows a dream and hones skills,
Which, when applied,
Make flow and awe possible,
Though there are other things to watch for –
Here are four:
Success is not guaranteed,
Some will hate what you do;
It’s more important than life itself, and
it’s transformative.
Yet responsibility is
what you do, and it contains
another neat trick,
Carrying within itself its own
permission.

*Viktor Frankl’s Yes to Life;
Mihály Csiksgentmihalyi’s Flow;
^Jonah Paquette’s Awestruck.