Responsibility and how it’s really NOT “all about you”

Spiritualism is all about personal responsibility. Speaking of personal responsibility, I know of a very elderly couple who are failing in their day-to-day living due to the issues that normally come along with aging, with medical issues piled on top of it. They stubbornly refuse to engage in assisted living and similar services when they clearly need it. They say they can and/or will drive, which is very dangerous for everyone else on the road, let alone themselves. I'd really like to wring both of their necks. And I mean REALLY. I suppose they think they're being responsible. Responsible for themselves, and that's all that counts, because "it's all about me". Hardly. I would call it control, not responsibility. Control says "I'm going to do this because I want to, and damn the torpedoes". Responsibility says "If I drive, I could kill several people, because my reactions aren't up to par any more". Responsibility says "I truly can't do this, my refusal is hurting everyone around me who cares, and ultimately, I really do need help". In order to have this level of responsibility, you need to have a certain awareness, which they clearly don't have. The world is an OPEN system. Everything affects everything else. Everything has subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) interrelationships with everything else. We don't realize how much our own situations, our own "life stuff" affects everyone else around us. Maybe it's because we're too damn busy dealing with it. Maybe it's because we shut the door to the larger world with our "it's all about me" thinking. How narrow and SELF-ish we are. The Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (now called Osho)in his book "The Search: Talks on the 10 Bulls of Zen", says it all, very concisely -- "Wake up! Be aware! Be responsible!" How I would like these people to do exactly that ... wake up, be aware, and be responsible, DAMN IT!