Who said I have to?

So, who wants to write a column for me?

No, really, I don’t feel like it today.

I’d much rather just fix some lunch (a sandwich and chips, anything else is too much work), turn on a mix of Bob Marley, the Beatles and the Allman Brothers and play some video games.

Am I complaining about my job? Certainly not. I love writing my opinion for others to read, even if the number of readers peaks at under a dozen in these bone-dry summer months in Oxford.

But like any other job, there are some days I would really rather be doing something else.

Ever feel like that? I don’t care how much you love your job, there will be days when you’d rather be fishing on Sardis, playing a round of golf or whatever it is you like to do on beautiful, not-too-hot days like this one.

What is it that keeps us from doing these things? Inevitably, the answer will always be: responsibility. But just what is responsibility? Webster’s Dictionary defines the word as “legal, moral or mental accountability.”

So the reason that many (“most” would certainly be no stretch) people spend between four and nine hours a day doing something other than what they desire to do is due to an accountability, be it legal, moral or mental, to someone or something.

So the real question is: where do our accountabilities lie? Who or what is going to hold you accountable if you choose not to go to work, class, jury duty, a war or wherever it is you’d rather not be?

Is it your boss, a judge, your professors, parents, police, prospector or preacher?

Why do they get to make the decisions in your life? Is it legal, moral or mental accountability they hold over you? I must say, if it is any of the people listed above, they certainly hold no moral responsibility over you, outside of helping one of them in a time of need. If you have committed no crime and are not in debt to the person, they can hold no legal accountability against you, either.

That leaves the mental accountability.

All of these people: judges, bosses, parents, police and preachers, hold a mental accountability over most of our culture.

You believe that if you don’t show up and flunk school, your parents will be angry or disappointed. If you do not show up for work, your boss will fire you. If you jaywalk, the police will arrest you and if you drink too much on Saturday, the preacher will condemn you on Sunday.

There is real responsibility, and that is the responsibility you set for yourself.

First, we have a responsibility to survive.

If you choose to have children, you have chosen an 18-year responsibility for that child’s survival as well.

Aside from that, we choose our responsibilities.

We choose to allow ourselves to be accountable to others. Certainly we do so to reach a goal we have set, but what goal?

I think we all need to step back from time to time and see who we hold ourselves accountable to and why. Why do we allow other people to make our decisions?

Because as long as we allow other people to hold a mental accountability over us, we cannot truly be free. And if we are never free, what’s the point?