Why grow up?

Occasionally I'll get bounced with "What do I do with my kid, they won't get accountable about their life?" Being more honest, I get bounced just as often with "What do I do about my boyfriend/significant other, they won't get accountable about their life?" Both issues are different sides of the same coin which appears to be "they" won't get committed to having better results in their life. Let's leave aside, for now, the question begging to be asked, "According to who or what criteria?" and go with clarifying the basic premise. "They" are accountable for their life whether they choose to own that accountability or not; they're going to live it (or not) and they're going to lose it (for sure). Anything anyone other than themselves who does anything which substantially alters the course, weave, or ebb and flow of that life doesn't change the "owners" accountability for their life. It's a gravity issue, man, it's their life as long as the blood pumps and the clock ticks toward the end of that life. Gender, race, ethnicity, religious preference, sexual orientation, or whether or not they like garlic has nothing to do with the accountability for that life. Okay, so maybe they are an infant born in a white-intolerant society and within moments of that birth they are thrown against the wall by the delivering individual, or slain before they are eight years old; then, perhaps, they are not accountable for their short life... Other than those and other similarly bizarre circumstances, the individual gets complete accountability for everything in that life. Nothing anyone else does can compel folks to own accountability if they don't want to but, like I said, it's a gravity issue. (What's a "gravity issue"? When I fall down and hurt my butt I absolutely HATE gravity, but it doesn't matter that I hate it nor does my hate change anything. Get it?)

Now if we're talking about "responsibility" that is a little different, you see, "responsibility" is an active word whereas "accountability" is a passive word. Any action you take can have everything to do with responsibility for your life whereas any action you take has nothing to doing with accountability for your life. I've gotta run now, I'll get back to this in awhile.