We’ve all got our pet peeves and/or the things that just drive us crazy.  For me, it’s excuses.  Screwing up is part of life — I’ve done it more than my fair share of times!  Mistakes don’t bother me as we’re all human and they’re the best way to learn.  What drives me absolutely crazy is excuses.

Unfortunately, my perception is that society as a whole is becoming/has become much too tolerant of excuses.  There’s always a reason that little Johnny couldn’t finish his homework, a reason that we couldn’t spend time on the things that were important, a reason that we didn’t find time to exercise or eat healthy, a reason that we didn’t follow our savings plan.  In my opinion, most of the time that reason is NOT because of the contrived excuse that folks come up with.  Rather, most of the time, the reason that we don’t succeed is through our own personal shortcomings.  And that’s fine!  We try, we fail, we try again.  That’s a healthy process that allows us to learn, grow, and live more fully.  When we acknowledge that we failed and commit to fixing the flaw, getting back on our feet, and trying again, we are one step closer to success.  When we come up with an excuse that places blame externally, we’re failing to take responsibility for our own actions and falling in to a dangerous downward spiral.

No doubt they’ll be someone that reads this that concludes “You don’t understand, sometimes things are just beyond our control and there’s nothing that we can do”.  Most situations ARE difficult and external factors DO influence the outcome.  However, folks that fall back on the “there’s nothing I can do” mantra, are selling themselves WAY too short.  That’s a shame as they’d likely be in a much better place if they looked inward, reflected on their actions, and determined how they can better influence the situation the next time.  That next time won’t be easy, but if they take responsibility for their own self determination, they’re likely going to end up in a much better place.

With that in mind:

Is it really worth while to come up with excuses?

As always, thanks for the time.

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