Responsible: The Things We Don’t Want To Do

Responsible: The Things We Don’t Want To Do

Sometimes Nearly every day there is something I have to do that I don’t want to do. A lot of the time these things are trivial, small, doable. Make the bed, shave, cook etc. These are things I don’t want to do, but I have to do them to continue being a functioning adult. I have to be responsible.

Other times, there are things I have to do that carry more weight. There are challenging conversations, events to speak at, things to write, emails to send – the list goes on. These tasks aren’t always things I don’t want to do, but sometimes they are. and despite how If eel towards them, I still have to do them, because I accept a certain level of responsibility regardless of my current emotional landscape. Take this blog right now, for example. I’m hungover, and I don’t necessarily want to put in the effort, but I’m doing it because it what I have promised myself to do.

Being responsible in the face of how we feel isn’t a new idea. It’s standard. It’s expected. At least in the more tangible aspects of our lives.

Over the last few years, I’ve come to see looking after my mental health in the same light. Because often, when my mental health is bad, I don’t want to do anything. I don’t want to exercise, I don’t want to talk, or go to therapy, or get enough sleep or drink enough water. My poor mental health makes be detest to do these things.

But now, I look at my mental health the same way I look at every other aspect of my life. Sometimes I will not want to do things. But I have a responsibility to do them. So I do them. I keep doing them. I keep myself disciplined. Because eventually, I know, that I will feel differently, and I’ll find solace in the fact that I maintained my responsibilities to myself, even in my darkest times.

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