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As you may recall, our message last month described the tapestry that we are weaving for our Four Seasons community. We stressed the importance of kindness and civility when interacting with others, and that we should be mindful of our actions and their consequences. We did so in an effort to encourage personal accountability… a trait that seems to be an endangered species. A basic definition of "personal accountability" is: being willing to answer for the outcomes resulting from our choices, behaviors, and actions. So, why is personal accountability becoming so rare, and what has happened to cause this situation? There are perhaps many factors that contribute to this, but this writer tends to believe that, as a society, we have neglected to emphasize this trait as a desirable personal characteristic. It has become all too easy to deflect responsibility and blame undesirable circumstances on other factors or, worse yet… on other people. When things go well, we are more than happy to accept responsibility because we know that our efforts will be appreciated. But when the outcome of our actions is less than desirable, we often make a conscious decision to avoid taking responsibility and seek to find someone or something else to hold responsible. Decision making is a daily activity, and we make literally thousands of decisions throughout the day. Some decisions are perhaps made subconsciously. But most decisions we make intentionally. For example, we decide when to get up in the morning (even though our bladders may initially stimulate the need for this decision). We decide what clothes to wear, what to eat and what time to do it. Our activities for the day are generally our decisions to make. When we drive our cars, we decide where to go, what route to take, how fast to drive, etc. Even though we may not consciously think about it, the reality is that every decision we make has a consequence. Generally speaking, when we make good decisions, we experience good consequences. Conversely, if we make a bad decision, it is reasonable to expect the consequences will not be desirable. Thus, our decision making abilities are directly tied to our willingness to accept personal accountability. So, if we concentrate on making good decisions, it becomes easier to accept accountability for our actions. This seems simple enough. So why do we tend to avoid accepting responsibility? Most likely, it's because holding ourselves personally accountable is a tough thing to do. When things don't go well, having to explain our actions to someone else is humbling and hard to admit. This is probably the reason why we choose the easier path and deflect. But when we do so, we tend to lose credibility and others can be hurt unintentionally. When we decide to take 100% responsibility and be accountable for our actions, our performance will improve, relationships will flourish, people's respect for us will skyrocket, and our self-esteem will grow. By holding ourselves accountable for doing the things we know we should do, we become positive role-models and will distinguish ourselves from the crowd. To quote our esteemed former Board President, Hal Townend… "strive to do the right things right." So, we respectfully offer personal accountability as yet another important thread to weave into the fabric of our Four Seasons tapestry. Again, we share these thoughts for your consideration and introspection. Please enjoy, and reflect. | Four Seasons Hemet Herald | June 2018 | 3 Message From the Board of Directors On behalf of your Board of Directors, Jim Hatcher, Ken Pounders, Tony Criscenti, Gene Hikel, Jim Crase, and Greg Rockvam, Russ Brown President

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