Anatomy of Excuses

If you live on the planet, then chances are, you are familiar with excuses. There is always an array of reasons why something planned did not happen. They range from the sublime to the ridiculous.

Webster’s dictionary defines an excuse as:

1. A defense of some offensive behavior or some failure to keep a promise etc.; “he kept finding excuses to stay”; “every day he had a new alibi for not getting a job”; “his transparent self-justification was unacceptable”.
2. A poor example; “it was an apology for a meal”; “a poor excuse for an automobile”.

Failure to keep a promise…

The reasons we give excuses have always intrigued me since I started my quest of understanding human behavior, especially mine.

Why do I set goals for myself, out of my own free will (not under duress), and then fizzle out when it comes to action time?

Why do I make promises, and fail to keep them?

Why do I always have a ready reason for not doing what I said I will do?

Why do I accept excuses?

Why do we conclude that what we previously committed to is no longer feasible or possible?

Why do we sell ourselves short time after time, and settle for mediocrity?

The reason we are miles away from where we ought to be and leading mediocre lives can be found in the mystery word – excuses. Failure to keep our promises: to ourselves and to others. For some of us, we dwell in the valley of excuses. We have a handy excuse for everything and for all seasons.

In trying to figure out why we are quick in making excuses, and why excuses seem to have become second nature, I decided to analyze an excuse in progress…

Most excuses begin with the decision the promise is not going to happen. What happens next is shopping for reasons to justify why it is no longer happening. We, first of all, accept that it is not going to happen, then come to the excuses…

We take decisions like…

I am not going to church tomorrow…

I will not finish this article tonight…

I am not going to this evening’s fellowship …

I will not give you the money I promised you…

I cannot make it in business…

I cannot lose weight…

The list goes on and on. After the decision comes the reason. Excuses to the rescue…

I am too tired. It is raining, there is too much traffic, I am not feeling fine, my child is ill, I don’t have time, I am too busy, it is not my fault, my father was a civil servant, I don’t have money, There is no one to loan me money, I have tried everything I can, etc, etc.

The key here is that we have made up our minds upfront that it is not going to happen, period. The moment our mind is made up, looking for excuses is easy. Excuses are ten a penny.

Sometimes, we are in the process of keeping our promises, and then boom, the unexpected happens. Then because our minds were not fully made up to go all the way come what may, we fizzle down. But again, just before we fizzle out, the decision is made that we cannot keep our promise anymore … under the current circumstances. This means we only keep our promises under certain circumstances…

If we decide we are going to keep the promise, let the heavens fall, we will find a way. Where there is a will, there is a way. Every obstacle will be dealt with, one way or the other. If we come to the level of commitment that we are going forward, come what may, even if someone dies, we will proceed against all odds.

Have you ever wondered where the energy comes from, no matter how tired you are, if you have an important flight to catch first thing tomorrow morning, and you have not packed? Since the flight is a “must catch”, the energy to pack shows up somehow…

Have you ever wondered how productive you become on your last day in the office before your vacation, if you know full well that you have to clear out your desk before your boss approves your going away? What normally takes two days to accomplish, you breeze through in one…

When there is a possibility of pulling back, backing off, or procrastination, we will always opt for the line of least resistance each time a challenge shows up. When there is hesitancy, a possibility of not coming through to the finish line, or leaving it for another day, there is always an excuse waiting close by to validate the decision we have already made.

However, when our mind is fully made up, ships/bridges burned, and the possibility of retreat nil, all your resources and focus are marshaled in one direction, and the stage is set for heaven to back you up.

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy,
the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth,
the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans:
that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too.

W.H. Murray

Watch out for PART 2

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!