by Christopher Avery

Are you more committed to coping or to growing? It's a choice you make everyday, even if instinctively rather than intentionally.You and I choose to cope with the stress of upsets and problems by denying, blaming, justifying, beating ourselves up, complying with what we think we should do, or by checking out or running away. To live with ourselves we vent; become cynical; argue vehemently in our minds with people we don't know how to face; become ill; indulge in food, drink, and drugs; and do all of these in various combinations as our way to feel in control and "cope with the world."

The alternative is to choose growth by refusing to merely cope and instead demanding of ourselves that we face reality and see it for what it really is, learn from it, expand our reality, and grow. This growth delivers freedom, choice, and power through an expanded ability to handle anything that comes your way.

The Responsibility Process is the mental path we use for doing that. And the Keys to Responsibility are how we interact with that path.

Practice Tip: Select one stressor, or one coping habit, and commit to examine it. Just invite yourself to face it and examine it for new truths — something you haven't seen before. Continue until you break through to a new understanding and ability to face that challenge more easily and directly. Then do it again, and again, and again.

You can do it.

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still. ~ Chinese Proverb