How Quickly Do You Accept Responsibility For Your Actions? : My Speeding Ticket Story
“I was in the seat, I’ll Take the heat.”
-A.C Slater
Quote from the popular 90′s High School Sitcom
Saved By The Bell
Do you guys remember that Saved By The Bell Episode when the students were taking Drivers Education class with (Mr. Tuttle as the instructor), and Zack Morris was trying to impress Kelly Kapowski, by wanting to prove to her that he could drive a car to win a date with her ?
In trying to do this, Kelly gets hurt in a (golf cart) car accident, and I think it was one of the lockers in the school gets damaged along with the (golf cart) car. It eventually turns into a big incident.
Somehow everyone gets blamed by the principal (Mr. Belding) and first A.C Slater admits he was at fault for the accident, and then finally Zack Morris (who was the mastermind behind the entire incident), and was the root cause of all the unfortunate outcomes finally steps up to the plate and admits his mistake for masterminding the entire incident. Zack Morris eventually takes full responsibility for his actions, and pays the consequences from Mr. Belding, and the show concludes.
My Speeding Ticket Story
Well, something similar but not nearly as dramatic as that happened to me today. I woke up this morning to find out that I got a speeding ticket in the mail. This wasn’t the ideal way to start the day. I’ve been driving for 8 years now, and this is I believe my first time actually getting a REAL speeding ticket. The other time I got pulled over by the cops, for going 95 on the freeway in California, but I managed to talk my way out of it. 
However, this speeding ticket I received here in Scottsdale Arizona was from those cameras they now secretly hide and you really won’t see it until you are literally like a few feet from it. The mistake I made was simply just not being aware of the speed limit signs and just speeding away at a pace I felt was good, but apparently was too fast for the laws of the road.
The moment they got my picture, I did see the flash of cameras hit me, but even at that, I wasn’t 100% sure that I got “caught” for speeding. It happened so fast a part of me just wanted to believe that didn’t happen.
But, the day came and it the speeding ticket arrived in the mail. My very first reaction, like most people was being really upset and angry. After being upset and angry, I immediately thought of well what lesson do I learn here?
The lesson is to be more aware of the speed limits signs, especially if you are new to the area. So after a few minutes of that, I faced the reality that I have to pay for this ticket, and moved on.
I didn’t spend anytime trying to blame the sneaky little camera they have set up where I got “caught.”
Or rant about how the speed limit should be higher in that specific route. I just faced it, accepted responsibility for my mistake of not being more aware of the speeding limits and moved on.
How Quickly are You Accepting Responsibility For Your Actions?
Although my speeding ticket may seem like a minor example compared to all the challenges that many people face in real life. I want to ask, how quickly are you accepting responsibility for your actions?
When you make a mistake or fail at some area in your life, do you face it or just let it slide?
Making mistakes and errors in judgment isn’t bad. In fact, when we take the time to look at the lesson involved and learn from it, we take responsibility for our actions. This allows us to grow more in our personal development.
Growth
When you make mistakes and quickly take responsibility for it, it’s a sign of maturity and growth. Taking full responsibility for your mistake will allow you to deal with it when it needs to be dealt with so that you can move on. It’s not a nice feeling having to carry that extra weight around. Take care of it when it needs to be taken care of, so you can move on.
It isn’t always easy when faced with having to admit mistakes. It’s even more challenging to admit mistakes that keep re-occurring in your own life. The best thing is to first be aware of it when the mistake is there, don’t beat yourself up too hard and take it easy on yourself. Let the lesson sink in, and you will be fine.
Your personal growth will occur when you balance both the seriousness of the lesson, and also the idea that all is well. Life goes on.
what a coincidence, I actually received my first speeding ticket as well and around the exact same time as you…i like how you stayed positive and handled responsibility for your actions. I was guilty of blaming the highway patrol when i got pulled over for speeding. But then I realized how many times I didn’t get pulled over when I should have back in my foolish days and felt blessed i wasn’t pulled over at that time. I like how you transition your experience to LIFE.
Thanks Baker
Randini
Hey Thanks for the great feedback. I am glad you like how I transition my experience to LIFE. Life is a classroom and I’m just learning new things all the time.
[...] even more good things to flow into my life.For example, I paid my rent and finally paid out a speeding ticket I got just today. As simple and basic as that sounds to some people, to me, it feels really nice to [...]
Traffic Cameras are showing up everywhere. You can’t avoid them. PhotoStopper Spray or a Super Protector License cover is the only real solutions to protect yourself.
Hi Issac
lol. I know, those cameras are everywhere, and they are very clever about where they place them too.
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!