I once heard that excuses are reasons stuffed with a lie. I had never thought of it that way but it’s true. We try to come up with a way to get around something so we use an excuse to try to reason our way around it. Excuses can become a bad habit as well as cause us problems. After paying close attention I have noticed that if we are trying to use an excuse to get around something there is almost always the word “but” said before the excuse comes out. For example, “I would have been able to help you BUT I had to help someone else.” The reason stuffed with a lie was that we said we had to help someone else. If we really wanted to help that person we could have found a way that we would have been able to help both people out. Yes our reason why we couldn’t help them was because we helped someone else out but we could have helped both if we really wanted to.

We all have made excuses for something at some point or another. It seems that the most popular excuses that we use are time, feelings, finances, and others. We will say that we are too busy or the timing won’t work. We say that we aren’t feeling good or don’t feel like doing it. We say that we don’t have the money to spend or give. And we say that we did or didn’t do something because of what someone else did or didn’t do. They all sound good but they are really just excuses.

The bottom line is that we will do what we want to do. If we really want to do something we will make a way for it to happen. How much do you think you have held yourself back from something that is good for you by making up excuses? We come up with an excuse as to why we can’t do something so that we can feel better about ourselves. As long as we justify our actions or lack of we are able to feel okay about ourselves. We don’t carry fault because we have created a legitimate reason for our actions (in our eyes). But in all honesty we only hurt ourselves by making up excuses.

There are going to be many things in life that we are not going to want to do. There will be things that your heart is telling you to do but the other part of you wants nothing to do with it. This is when we have to make a decision that we aren’t going to make up an excuse and we are going to just do it. We will be so much more happy and content when we stop the excuses and do the things that we need to do..

We can be as happy and content with life and ourselves as we choose to be. If we get a determination in our heart that we are not going to make excuses for our actions, or lack of, anymore we will be on our way to better living. Following our heart which is the Spirit is the only way that we will be completely satisfied with ourselves. There is no greater feeling than knowing that you are doing the best that you can with what you’ve got and following your heart. So stop with the excuses and decide today that you are giving up excuses and are going to follow your heart.