Taking Responsibility

Santa should’ve bought in bulk and put into every Portuguese stocking a copy of Robinson Crusoe!
Those who read it will recall the lesson the hero learnt when he decided that he was going to carve a boat out of a tree and then head for the high sees.
The obstacles in the challenge lied in first chopping down the massive tree, then carving it out and finally in getting the boat into the water.
Our hero developed a plan for the first two obstacles but decided that he would resolve the last problem when he got to it.
After much deliberation he finally got the first two tasks done when he discovered that there was no solution to his third problem: the boat was too massive and too heavy to ever get it to the shore and into the sea.

Nowadays I find that most people are adopting the same attitude that leaves them eventually stranded: "I’ll see when I get there"...
What happened to thinking things out?...
Making plans?...
Making back up plans?...
Things don’t sort themselves out... you have to search and implement solutions for the problems in your life!

I read in the paper that Portuguese people don’t save, taxes went up last year, salaries are stagnant, minimum wages are a disgrace and yet 673 million credit cards were issued last year - an increase of 20%!!!
What are these people thinking? Buying on credit isn’t a free ride... if you don’t have the money in cash to buy things now what makes you think you will have it when the credit card bill comes in?!
Even those items that cost a little more than what you might have available, isn’t it preferable to save and buy it without any future worry (this way you may even get a discount) then having to remember to pay something during 12months that cost you more than the original price thanks to interest rates.

Maybe it’s just me... maybe it’s the "third world" education that I got back in 9th grade that taught me how to budget my life that makes me alien to what my Economics teacher would call irresponsibility and financial suicide... What scares me the most is that people are adopting this attitude in almost every aspect in their lives to avoid responsibility.

Talk to any person... when it comes to relationships, nobody wants to commit anymore. Most of today’s relationships start off with the "colourful friendship" or that fling that somehow carried on for so long that is now regarded as a relationship. Dating is non-committal and not to be considered a sign of interest (consider it more like a practice run) and going steady is unheard of unless you’re either engaged or married.

So maybe I’m old-fashioned but I like to know where I stand with the people around me. I like to know whether the person standing in front of me is my friend who will stick with me through thick and thin and be available when I may need his/her shoulder... or if they’re just someone I greet or have lunch with.
I’d like to know whether the man I share my bed with is the one who wants to build a home, a family and a future with me or if he’s there just to satisfy my sexual desires.
It’s only been five years since I’ve left school but have things changed so much that now there are crash courses on how to avoid responsibility?: If you can’t resolve it, leave it?!!!

Perhaps it’s my character that prohibits me from comprehending the concept of discarding responsibility, or the incompatibility lies somewhere in my perfectionism; whatever the reason, I simply can’t accept:
"We’ll see when we get there..."

Define yourselves!

I’m all in favour of faith but I don’t believe in walking blind by choice.
You’ll never win the lottery if you don’t buy a ticket;
Get an education if you don’t study;
Win a race if you don’t run
Or conquer love if you don’t fight for it...
Trust in God but lock your doors...
Have faith that he will provide food and shelter but don’t turn away the job he gives you in order to provide you with those things.

Take care of yourselves and teach those you love to do the same... remember that when all is gone and taken away, all that you’re left with is yourself.