Do you feel that you're a victim? Now it is possible that you are, but accepting that label may be doing you more harm than good.  

Victims generally feel that something bad has happened to them and they, themselves, are in no way responsible for it. Now, authentic victims certainly do exist - let's be perfectly clear on that. The devastation caused by last week's storm, Sandy, is an example. However, in a book called, "A Nation of Victims," Charles Sykes pointed out that far too many of us have grown adept at finding someone else to blame for our problems and ignoring our own personal responsibility for them.  

When you give up accountability for any aspect of your life, you also give up control. When you give up control, you're basically saying, "There's nothing I can do about it. There's no hope of improvement." What kind of example are you setting for the young people in your life?    

You see, the mindset of a victim is one of powerlessness, and with a mindset like that, you get used to behaving like a victim. It's a vicious cycle that can turn into a downward spiral, if you're not careful. For the protagonists of America's gang shootings, the bottom of that spiral has been violence. For the most part, they have believed themselves to be victims.

Is Mr. Sykes right? Have people come to define themselves, not so much by shared culture, but by their status as victims of just about everything - parents, men, women, the workplace, stress, drugs, alcohol, food, physical characteristics, racism, the "in crowd" and that great faceless thing called "the system?" 

There is a good chance that there's more than a little truth in this assertion. A stroll through the headline news of this last year, and certainly a large percentage of the ads in this past election season, would seem to confirm it. What do you think? Isn't it time we all take on a bit more accountability for our actions?