Taking responsibility is taking action.
I observed several examples of this over the past week. I attended a homeowner’s association meeting with 50-60 homeowners present. One of the agenda items was about taking care of dog poop in the neighborhood. It came out that the HOA board had decided to spend money to put a poop bag dispenser near the HOA office. However, the “year supply” of bags ran out in 5 months, and the board did not want to spend any more money on bags, so they removed the dispenser. In the meeting, there was not any further action suggested that anyone wanted to take. The real problem (unstated) was that people who have dogs that walk through the neighborhood are not picking up after their dogs (not taking responsibility).
I then thought of several things in my life that I would like to see happen (do more writing, lose weight, get in better shape). However, I have not taken any action. By my statement above, I am not taking responsibility for making those things happen.
I am taking this as an opportunity to take stock of my own responsibilities – a good action for all of us.