Taking ownership does not mean accepting responsibility for other people’s choices.

Taking responsibility for your own actions is different from absorbing responsibility for everyone else’s. The second is a common overcorrection, and it leaves you exhausted and holding things you cannot possibly fix. Other adults make their own choices, and those belong to them.

When you feel weighed down by a situation, sort it into what you did, what you allowed, and what someone else chose freely. Own the first two. Set the third down, even if the consequences still reach you.