Reflection
Responsibility Is Not the Same as Blame
I saw this sign in a gift shop in Banff:
Parents are responsible for any damage caused by the child/children.
It made me laugh.
Then it stayed with me.
When I was younger, tracing certain wounds back to where they began felt important. Naming the source helped me understand myself.
But searching for why can become its own kind of sleep. Without realizing it, we can begin to build an identity around the pain—one we carry into the life and relationships unfolding around us.
The past may explain our reactions, our fears, and the patterns we repeat. But it does not have to keep choosing for us.
When we return to the present—even briefly—we create a small space between what happened and what happens next.
A space in which another choice becomes possible.
What happened to us was not always ours to choose.
What we do with our lives now is.
Responsibility is not the same as blame.
Sometimes, it is where freedom begins.