"Nothing else so destroys the power to stand alone as the habit of leaning upon others. If you lean, you will never be strong or original. Stand alone or bury your ambition to be somebody in the world.” (Orison Swett Marden 1850-1924)

One of the earlier posts I had contemplated writing in this Growing Older, Living Young AtoZChallenge series was  Be Your Own Boss, in the context of being an entrepreneur  instead of employed at a job. But as I thought about it I concluded that You Are Your Own Boss is a more important point because it covers how you approach all aspects of your life.

Something that I find bothersome, is the way perfectly intelligent adults, who should be capable of making decisions and choices based upon their own judgement, seek advice everywhere and often base their actions on what they were told by the last person they spoke to. You Are Your Own Boss means you don’t need someone else to tell you what’s good for you, unless it is a professional who you are consulting.

The posts in this AtoZChallenge2018 have been remarkably rant free. I guess nothing I have written about so far presses any of my hot buttons. But personal responsibility is a hot button for me so I will rant a little more about that. You Are Your Own Boss means that you and only you are in control of your emotions and how you react to anything, whether it is provocative, offensive or just downright rude. Nobody can “make you mad”.  You allow yourself to react and become angry or upset.

In today’s "nanny" world,  there is far more emphasis placed on our individual rights than our individual responsibilities, and there needs to be balance restored. The example of trigger warnings, which alert students in advance to any course material that could potentially upset them is political correctness taken to the ultimate extreme of ridiculousness. Why is the onus not placed on the individual student to take responsibility for their own reaction to the offending material and figure out how to deal with it?

Comments anyone?