Excuses
We all have them. We make them, we create them, we use them. We tell ourselves it’s why we can’t do something and we’re right. They keep us from the things we want most or at least the things we say we want most.
They are a story we tell ourselves. We’re too busy to write that blog post. We don’t have time to exercise. We have to eat fast food, don’t you see, I’ve got back-to-back appointments. We tell ourselves these stories but they’re excuses, not reasons.
Reasons are things outside our control, generally. The weather, unusual traffic rather than typical rush hour, illness, and the list goes on. Reasons are different that excuses.
I’ve heard it said, excuses are the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie. It kind of looks like a reason but something is off. If you’re continually late to appointments, whatever you give as a ‘reason’ is probably an excuse.
I’ve also heard that the maximum effective range of an excuse is ‘zero meters’. They don’t go very far. We tell ourselves a story by using an excuse, but most people can see through them. If someone cares about us, they might call us out but usually, people will let it slide because they will be the ones to make an excuse next time. It’s an agreement we make with each other but the cost to our goals, to what we say we want is huge.
I said I was going to write every day and I will. No excuses. There may be a reason but if I plan ahead, allocate some time daily, and push ‘publish’ it ought to be rare.
Will you call me out on my excuses, if I make one?
Jerry