Failed Responsibility

My current addiction is playing Just Words online. I find it challenging, therapeutic and a lot of fun. It also helps me to steer my thoughts from work to home. It is my after work pastime. Not a single work day goes by without a game (or two) of Just Words. Now I am well aware that any kind of addiction is bad for your health. So, I had to find myself a different hobby. On our recent visit to the library I borrowed a random novel to read. I picked "A Well Tempered Heart" written by Jan-Phillip Sendkler. I liked the title and the reviews were not bad either. It is a fairly good read and thought provoking too. One thought that I really liked was the statement "You are responsible for not only what
you do but also for what you fail to do".

Applying this statement both to my personal and my professional roles is so timely and so worth reflecting.

Spending or shall I say wasting time on playing an online game instead of getting some household chores done or taking the kids out to the park or doing other productive work is a responsibility that I have taken up as a Wife and as a Mother.
A little avocation is good but an addiction is a failed responsibility.

At work, I am responsible not only to train and supervise all my volunteers but also for making sure that the work is completed in an acceptable manner. When a volunteer fails to clean up his station after his shift, it is not entirely his fault for forgetting to clean his station. It is my responsibility to lay out my expectations. Simply assuming that cleaning up after yourself is a natural thing to do is not enough. It is a failed responsibility on my part.

I am glad I picked up this random book from the library. Life's lessons can and do come from unknown directions.