Many views exist on responsibility. Some feel taking it is key, others prefer to avoid related discomfort, pain. A part of you would argue taking responsibility is like taking control of life. Yet what is really under our control?
Society distorts things. We are taught being responsible is doing what we are told by our elders (parents, teachers, mentors), and being irresponsible is acting from our perception of individual needs. The mistaken fear often adopted is if we act spontaneously, this will be like avoiding social, family and cultural responsibilities on our shoulders. In fact, this is a huge misunderstanding or way our minds are manipulated away from truth.
In truth, response is possible only if you are spontaneous, act in the moment, now. Response means that your attention, awareness, consciousness, is fully present. Come what may, respond with your whole being. It is not a question of being in tune with anyone else, some holy scripture, or some imagined personality. It simply means to be in tune with the present moment.
This ability to respond in the here and now, based on feelings at present is responsibility, another term that silently refers to meditation. This is a forgotten secret. Remembering and putting this into practice changes how you relate to yourself and the world.