Personal Responsibility-Pierre Pinson

We often got through life pointing the finger at other people and blaming them for our conditions  and our reactions. Ignorance is primary factor which causes us to continue to live in unhealthy  conditions and to have unhealthy reactions. We see ourselves as powerless or we see others as causing  our irritations. We say things like, "You made me angry." A person cannot not "make" another angry.  What happens at the point of interaction is that one person says or does something and the other  person chooses to perceive what that person has done as offensive. When we choose to perceive we  also choose to receive the energy that comes along with that perception. We can educate ourselves to  our triggers and trauma we are enabling ourselves to take personal responsibility and to reclaim our  power. We then understand at we make our own hells and heavens. In order to truly understand  personal responsibility we have to understand the phrase in this entirety and explore the etymology of  these two words to understand their symbolism. 

PERSONAL 

The root of the word personal is 'person' which is derived from the Latin persona meaning "mask or  role." Interestingly, the "sona" portion of this word can be traced to the Latin, sonāre which means,  "to sound." So, at its core the person is a mask or role manifested through sound. This gives us a  different perception of speaking things into existence. Consider the fact that if you say nothing, you  have no personality. You must actually begin to speak yourself into existence. You say things like, "I'm  a player, I can't because..., I'm a real nigga." These are all declarations that comprise a piece of the  mask. In our creation stories gods spoke their own name and formed themselves and the universe.  From word came from. Thus, the personality is the first manifestation— it is our first act as creators.  From the flesh, from the tongue, we form the personality. 

RESPONSIBILITY  

At the root of the word responsibility are the words "response" and "ability." Response comes from  the Latin, promissum meaning to "send forth" or to "promise." Ability is derived from the Latin,  hablis which can be translated to mean "to handle." When we combine these words, we see that  responsibility means "to handle the promise." What is the promise? To send forth. 

When we are born, we are all born with what we call "potential." No one ever defines this potential  but we understand that the possibilities for children are innumerable. Potential is the promise that we  can be anything but what's more is that it is the fact that we are born powerful. It is not until we meet  the world that we discover limitation and internalize neuroses, dis-ease, and trauma. Through the  words we speak we accept the world's account of us and develop the mask which denies us the ability  to see ourselves, thereby denying us the ability to be ourselves. 

When we examine the phrase in its entirety we now see that personal responsibility can be translated  to mean we are "able to handle the promise when we remove the mask through sound." The same  mask we created through our thoughts, words and actions must thereby be destroyed by the same  method. We speak our personality into existence but we only need to send forth our true selves. This 

means that our personalities are not our true selves. Our experiences and are traumas are not what  defined us. Inside of us, the true self has always existed we only need to get heal in order to remove  the barriers that prevent us from sending it forth. When accept personal responsibility, we remove the  mask and fulfill the promise. 

Personal responsibility is not just accepting that you have done something. It is realizing that you are  in control. That nothing truly happens "to you" — It is how you perceive. When we are in the ego or  in fear, everything happens to us. We make ourselves the center of attention and we find ourselves at  the center of every dispute and controversy. We become the epitome of being self-centered because  things have happened to us, we believe that we are entitled to behave and react a certain way. In order  to fulfill our promise it is up to us to become centered in self as opposed to being self-centered. When  we are self-centered the world revolves around us. In contrast, when we are centered in self, we are  evolving without the world. When we evolve without the world it allows us to go within ourselves and  embark on the journey of introspection which is a critical function in the process of personal growth  and development. 

At the heart of personal responsibility is a person centered in self, able to see themselves and therefore  able to understand their role as a man or woman. The person centered in self is the embodiment of a  healthy Black Woman or Man. This book will open your eyes so that you can find your center; with  it, you will rediscover your promise, your blackness and your wellness.