Responsibility and Ownership

Before we get into what to do with such a chaotic world, let’s talk about where our responsibility for that chaos lies. Things under our control are our actions, our reactions, our view of the world, and our view of others. Lots of people believe that our emotions also fall under this category, but that’s not exactly true; our emotions are chemical reactions within our body that are influenced by internal and external stimuli that we don’t get to say yes or no to. Other folks actions, reactions, view of the world, and emotions fall outside of that control. They will inevitably affect us, but that doesn't mean that we can take responsibility for nor ownership of them.

Existentialism teaches us that life breaks down into things that are under our control and things that are not. We’d like to believe that the ratio of these things is 50/50, but it definitely isn’t. As a matter of fact, the proportions probably fall closer to 5% under our control and 95% outside of it. What a chaotic life that we’re in! How on earth are we supposed to stay safe and fulfilled in a world that hands us so many outcomes that are outside of our ability to change?

 The realization that we are not designed nor called to change or “conquer” so much of the world in and of itself brings such relief. There is a bottomless pit of stress, depression, and anxiety waiting for us in the effort to manipulate our surroundings or the people in our lives. It’s literally an impossible feat, and when we believe that an inability to change it reflects failure upon us, we set ourselves up to believe we are constantly losing. This is not an accurate nor kind way to view ourselves, and it can lead us to hopelessness or resentment of the world and others.