Responsibility = Freedom
As a person who sincerely walks a path of self and spiritual development I have found that one of the most liberating practices is the one where we take full responsibility for our lives. More accurately, taking full responsibility for our perceptions will set us free. Free from comparison, judgement, ignorance, and victim mentality. Read more to see how I came to this understanding :)
Jefe… Means chief or leader in Spanish. While it is a nickname that I have embraced; there is a far greater context for me to use it as the name of “Jefe Living”.
It begins with the journey that began 9 years ago, I began practicing a new lifestyle and witnessed my body go from 280 pounds to around 160. The physical process took over a year, however there is another piece of that journey that still continues within me today.
The moment I set out to create this new version of myself I was unaware that the result would become a conscious co-creation with life itself. What does that even mean!? Well, 9 years ago I was fortunate enough to have great support and coaching on my weight loss adventure. Read that like this: I had support and I did what was necessary to lose weight, further - when I took responsibility, the support found me. The solution is always waiting for us to assume responsibility for ourselves. Can you see a scenario in your life where this is/was true?
I had no idea that I was embarking on a much bigger journey. The experience of losing weight and the proverbial “shedding of skins” was enough for me to take matters into my own hands. Responsibility was mine for the taking.
To dive a little deeper into the shedding of layers that “weren’t me”… Consider this question: If I was not me, who was I? That is the most valuable question anyone can ask themselves. In brief - and if you want to learn more, visit the “about me” section of Jefeliving.com - I was raised being told what to believe, what was right, what was wrong, and how to behave. Aren’t we all raised that way? And so my perceptions of the world were handed to me from generations passed. And I believed them! That’s Adam and Eve eating the fruit - to believe what isn’t our truth. It’s ancestral patterning and who knows where those beliefs and ideologies originated and how they adapted and morphed from one generation to the next. I have to ask you, does this resonate with your experience? Have you considered what’s yours and what belongs to your family and others?
Over time my passion for self knowing was ignited and stoked. I truly believe that the exercise/movement, and dietary improvements shed not only weight but also many layers of conditioning and beliefs that “weren’t me”. What was left was a more true version of me and connection to a being who had an idea of what was possible. This is where the idea of responsibility becomes exciting! The idea of responsibility - as I see it - recognizes that each one of us must go on our own journey to discover the meaning of life for ourselves. To be able to see reality as it is, then hands us the unbelievable freedom to shape it! This for me has been the most valuable and worthwhile discovery in my life.
When we take on the responsibility of getting to know ourselves, not only do we start to unravel all the untruths that society/culture/environment has built up, we also foster a true connection to something bigger - for me it is an experience of the world and everything surrounding me having a life of itself - an infinite intelligence. If you’re not ready to buy all that, I understand. I certainly would have turned the other cheek if I read that 4 years ago! All the same, I know for myself that several years of meditation and self - enquiry has provided many excited and unexpected results! I am enthusiastic to continue this journey!
Dedication to understanding myself is the backbone of my practices and it has become the primary focus of my work. What started as a seemingly physical journey turned out to also be connected to my mind and spirit. Taking responsibility has given me a most beautiful life!!
I’ll offer you a contrasting story - one from my life and an example that many people will be able to relate to. We all have people in our life who various amounts of personal responsibility for their actions and behavior. My mother is the example I’ll use. She smoked all her life, and for as long as I remember she had a poor diet consisting mainly of processed foods. She was diagnosed first with lung cancer and then some years later with brain cancer. Even before that she had illness since I was young, I can remember diagnoses ranging from lupus to narcolepsy. She relied heavily on her doctors. For as long as I know, my mother was dependent on prescription medicine and she passed away at the age of 56 (I was 22) due to being chronically over medicated on pain medicine for years.
What was her behavior like? well, I remember when I was young, my mother was an avid reader and very sharp. That changed at some point after an aforementioned illness - at some stage she became glued to the TV watching the news as if it were her religion. Because she stopped using her mind, it grew weak. My mother often projected and reacted on my older sister and she would be the first to bicker and blame others if things were not going her way.
I loved my mother dearly and there were many nice qualities about her too - I just want to highlight the state of her health, (which I have come to realize as the first pillar of our personal responsibility) physically: (poor diet, little exercise), mentally (slave to the TV screen and news media) thus her resulting behavior was such that she was often unpleasant to be around and I imagine she suffered quite a bit, herself, locked in a rigid state of existence encumbered by beliefs that were more belonging to the news media than the fruit of her own life experience. That was one depiction of my mom, and perhaps I just described someone you know.
I only have compassion for how my mother was, because I know - How do you think I got to be so over weight?
Now back to responsibility:
I am so happy and grateful now for having grown up so overweight - and then leaving home and embarking on my own personal life revolution. For had my life not taken that turn, I would never have realized how much of my life’s experiences are in my own hands! This is the beauty and possibility of taking responsibility for the life.
I’ll leave you with one question:
What do you REALLY know unless you take full responsibility for your life?
And one valuable addition - we can only assume responsibility for ourselves. Trying to change others will never work from a place of force. It’s not our business. You do your work and that’ll inspire the change around you, I promise.
Thanks friends! Hope you find this valuable.