smile like you mean it...

What does it mean to be responsible? Responsibility is something which is learned through experience and through gaining maturity. To be responsible, one must first of all have certain responsibilties and second of all do what it takes to fulfill your responsibilties, sacrificing yourself and the things you enjoy to meet the requirments of the obligations set on you. These obligations may come in the form of academics, work, sports (though sports are not as important as the first two), family obligations, etc. To be truly responsible one must handle all these obligations at once and with grace, making wise choices throughout the process. Unwise choices can screw up your life and erase all the hard work which you've accomplished, or at least set you back to some degree. Also, you must be mature.

Maturity is something which comes with experience, for most people. It is an awareness of yourself and how you should conduct yourself in situations. It is rising to the occasion and going beyond the expectations of others. It is doing your best in everything you do. It is knowing when to work and when to play. Life presents many situations in which maturity and responsibility can be gained. It is part of learning to develop these characteristics to identify these opportunities and learn from them rather than running away from them. Just because something stretches you doesn't mean it is a bad thing. One can only learn by going through things which you have not yet gone through. Life presents hard things and happy things both, and it is up to you how you deal with them. If you want to run and hide from them, you will never learn to grow from your experiences. If you choose to develop yourself and learn and grow, you will become a better, stronger person.