In general, I am not an excuse person.

Excuses are lies we tell ourselves when we are scared, embarrassed, ashamed, and/or angry. Excuses are the exact opposite of results. Excuses are like dessert, when you eat too many of them the results are evident. Excuses are comfortable when truth is prickly, sticky, and squishy. I get self-righteous when I talk about excuses, as I crawl toward truthiness in my own life.

In a effort to clean my slate, shake the Etch A Sketch of my life, and head down an excuse-free path toward truth. At the risk of self-incrimination, here are a few of my favorite excuses.

I will start that (fill in the blank with anything I struggle to do) tomorrow.

When I don’t want to do something, I often put it off. This works with exercise, eating, meditation, specific writing goals, etc. This excuse is particularly useful to avoid discipline, when I want to sleep in, or want to push out a deadline. After repeatedly making this excuse, it is harder to get back on track. Six weeks of building a habit can easily be destroyed in one week of throwing caution to the wind.

This is just a busy time.

I have heard that we are never too busy for things we really want to do. Relatedly, I have heard we make time for things that are important to us. Yes, some times are more busy than others. Yes, busyness ebbs and flows. But ultimately,  I use being too busy to get out of something when I am not interested in it or have different priorities.

I will be ready in (fill in the blanks with significantly less time than it will actually take).

Sometimes I run behind.

This costs (fill in the blank with significantly less money than it actually costs).

Sometimes I don’t pay attention.

Sure. I will have one more glass of wine.

Sometimes a bottle of wine goes too quickly.

Can you Believe she did that? (Fill in the Blank with anything that i might have done but don’t want to remember/acknowledge doing.)

Gossip can be a form of deflection or obfuscation, similar to an excuse. If I believed in the devil, and an idle mind is the devil’s playground, and gossip is a symptom of an idle mind, then excuses are the devil’s toys meant to pull us away from our truth toward whatever shiny objects we can find.

Leading A Post-Excuse Life

Perhaps now that I have laid bare some of my favorite excuses, it will be easier to hold myself accountable to my truth in the kindest, gentlest way.  Perhaps I will become the person who: frames saying “no” (when necessary) in the most sincere and loving tone, prioritizes my schedule in ways that reflect my true desires and joy, gets meaningful results in my life, and becomes known for keeping my word to myself and others.