FULFILL YOUR ROLES IN LIFE
“More people coming to live with us…” the ten-year-old wrote in her diary. Louisa May Alcott and her family were part of a utopian experiment in nineteenth-century Massachusetts called “Fruitlands.”

Louisa’s father and the other commune leaders had high hopes for their little society, but the young girl was not so sure. “I don’t see who is to clothe and feed us all,” she continued in her journal. “when we are so poor now. I was very dismal [today], and then went to walk and made a poem.

Young Louisa composed poems to take her mind off her family’s troubles. At night she told stories to her sisters to lull them peacefully to sleep. As a child, Louisa was already using her talents to provide emotional relief for her family, and within a few years, she would begin using her skills to provide more practical relief for their needs.

Louisa May Alcott is best known for her book Little Women. In this work, Jo March is an autobiographical figure reflecting the tenacity Alcott herself developed-tenacity she learned and practiced out of a commitment to fulfill her responsibilities.

The Fruitlands commune failed, and the family returned to normal society; but Louisa’s father still avoided regular work. Some considered Bronson Alcott a ne’er-do-well; others esteemed him an unappreciated genius. In either case, the philosopher’s life provided much for dinnertime discussion but little for dinner. Yet Louisa formed what she deemed to be the course for her life in the midst of her family’s struggles.

Louisa May Alcott was determined to become a published writer, but there was more behind her tenacious spirit than a thirst to see her name in print. Louisa was driven by a sense of responsibility for her family. She determined to see to it that her parents would be provided for in old age. She determined to see that her sisters would receive the clothing and education they needed. In short, Louisa was motivated to develop her talents out of responsibility for her family.

At 16, Louisa published her first story in a Boston magazine. Although she was not satisfied, calling her first effort “great rubbish, “ it earned five dollars. She continued to write for magazines. Six years later, Louisa compiled several stories into her first book, Flower Fables. Her reputation-and income-as an author slowly began to blossom.

Louisa was an independent-minded woman. She became independently wealthy, too much of a loner to marry. However, Louisa never lost her sense of responsibility for her family. She was an Alcott, and that was enough for her to know that her family’s needs were her responsibility. To their dying days, she honored and cared for her parents; and late in her own life, she adopted the orphaned daughter of one of her sisters.

Louisa May Alcott’s life is a testimony to responsibility. Responsibility is more that fulfilling voluntary commitments. Responsibility also accompanies a person’s roles in life. As a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a citizen-in each of her roles, she had incumbent responsibilities to fulfill. And she dedicated herself to their performance.

Responsibility is knowing one’s roles in life-parent, spouse, child, employer, employee, citizen-and accepting the duties that accompany each of then, whether spoken or unspoken, voluntary or obligatory. Responsibility is owning the duties that are part of your roles in life.

RESPONSIBILITY ON THE JOB
Where there are relationships, there are responsibilities. Many of the most notable responsibilities of a working relationship are included in a job description or project assignment. However, many responsibilities are not.

If assigned to paint a wall, a responsible person will also lay drop cloths, prepare the wall surface, ensure that there is proper ventilation, set up “wet paint” signs, clean up afterward, and so on. Responsibility involves a willingness to “unpack” all the expectations that are implicit in a set of instructions, rather than addressing only those explicitly stated.

RESPONSIBILITY WITH BALANCE
A responsible person does not wait for a “to do” list to be handed to him every morning to know what his roles in life and deduces what he needs to accomplish.

Nevertheless, such self-government can get out of hand if a person does not exercise responsibility with the complementary quality of loyalty.

Loyalty is “using difficult times to demonstrate my commitment to those I serve.”

When adopting responsibilities that are not explicitly defined, strive to understand the desires and expectations of those to whom you are responsible. Define your plan for fulfilling your responsibilities based on their expectations rather than your own preferences.

RESPONSIBILITY AT HOME
Chores are one way each child can contribute to helping care for the needs of the family. Review your family chore list. Link each responsibility with a specific, related privilege. For example, if dishes are not put away, meals cannot be served. Therefore, the consequence for not emptying the dishwasher is not being allowed to eat until the dishes are put away. If the house is not kept neat and orderly, guests are not properly honored. Therefore, the consequences for not completing cleaning assignments is not being able to have friends over until the cleaning is done.

The goal of placing consequences on uncompleted chores is more than just

THINK RESPONSIBILITY 1. With pen and paper, list your roles in life. Consider the following: Parent; Spouse; Son/Daughter; Sibling; Employer/Employee; Citizen; Member of __________; Owner of __________; Friend of __________. Identify several responsibilities incumbent with each of the relationships. 2. What are two or three responsibilities of your job that are not explicitly stated in your job description? I WILL: • keep my promises • not make excuses • do my work to the best of my ability • make things right when I do something wrong • know and do my duty “No one can accept responsibility in the world unless he takes it first on his own doorstep.” - Clio F. Craig

persuading your children to cooperate. The goal is to teach them the relationship between responsibilities and opportunities. Connect chores and related privileges in such a way that this lesson is clearly demonstrated.

The bald eagle takes responsibility for its family, caring for both dietary needs and “education. When the young are old enough for flight lessons, the parent eagle teaches with initial jumping exercises in the nest, even “flying” from one side of the next to the other. When ready to launch out, the parent flies a short distance ahead of the young. Air currents rushing over the primary feathers of the adult eagle’s wings help to “carry” the young as they develop their own flying skills.

Character definitions and information used by permission. Copyright Character Training Institute. www.characterfirst.com

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