Psychologically and politically

"Psychologically and politically we would much rather assume that the cause of a problem is 'out there,' rather than 'in here.' It is almost irresistible to blame something or someone else, to shift responsibility away from ourselves, and to look for the control knob, the product, the pill, the technical fix that will make a problem go away." ~ Donella Meadows, Thinking in Systems

There is very little external influence that can actually influence an individual without some level of acceptance and action of their own that will either result in a positive or a negative. What I mean, we are all responsible for every thing that occurs in our lives and external influences matter little because it is our action to accept or reject those influences - we have free will.

Where have we heard this one before, i.e. we have free will. It is true, I can attribute all the good and all the bad in my life to actions and decisions I made. It didn't matter if it was a conscious or unconscious decision because all that I am comes from what I perceive and believe in my life. I have always had the ability to decide on my actions from the moment of sentience. 

If I get my head knocked off in a fight I can say truthfully that it was something I did, said or didn't say or do that led to that moment. I had the ability to avoid the conflict all the way up to the point where his hand met my head. All the incidents that occur following that hand against my head are also still my complete and total responsibility. 

So, what does that mean to the model of self-defense? It means that any conflict to which I subject myself is something I caused to effect. It means that no matter the actions of others I have that choice. It is up to me so I cannot blame anyone but myself for all that happens to me in life. Barring acts of god, it is me and will always be me. My happiness or sadness, anger or happiness or any other number of feelings, etc. will depend on the actions I took, the actions I take and the results will be the offspring. 

If I actually stop looking for someone else to take the blame or to blame, if I stop looking for the placebo to remove blame from my shoulders or if I stop looking for some gimmick to make me feel no responsibility then I can only surmise that all things that occur in my life are a direct result of something I said, did or applied toward my life.