Accountability is a difficult task. Saying you will do something and actually doing it are completely different things, even if it is a small thing, such as telling your mom you will vacuum your room, making sure to get your homework done on time or telling yourself you will work out every day after school, it’s not always easy to hold yourself accountable. 

There comes a time in everyone’s life when they realize just how important accountability is. How can you be trusted with the big things if you can’t be responsible enough to handle the small challenges? Accountability and responsibility go hand in hand. You can’t have one without the other. Both come with age, but it’s also something that you don’t have to learn alone. In my 18 years of life, if I’ve learned anything at all, it is that it’s not only easier, but also even a bit more fun, to deal with tough things with someone by your side. 

My friend and fellow newspaper staff member, Anna, and I have started working out at the gym together. Surveys show that if you workout with someone, both people will get more out of the workout due to one’s competitive nature as well as the fact that you motivate each other. It is so much easier to get through a tough workout with someone struggling through it next to you. Exercise, as well as many other tough situations in life, are very much mental struggles. For example, one word: lunges. Just thinking about them makes my legs hurt, but that’s just it. It’s the thinking aspect. You psych yourself out so much to the point that you convince yourself that they hurt more than they do and you want to quit. That’s why you need someone to make you keep going, someone to hold you accountable, someone to let you know that you are not the only one struggling and that the best way to get through it is together. 

Some people might argue that it’s easy to hold yourself accountable, and if you’re one of those people, good for you, but know you don’t have to do everything alone. 

It’s okay to lean on other people for help from time to time, that doesn’t make you any less independent or strong. If anything, it makes you more responsible and accountable because it shows that you know when you need help from others and you know you’re just as strong with or without it.