Excuses

Excuses. They're like armpits: everyone has them and they stink. But honestly, I have a knack for making excuses to myself to feel better about not doing something I should be. Like the past couple of weeks and blogging. I kept telling myself that I need to do other work instead or that every time I would try to write something, nothing came out. Eventually, your excuses come back to bite you in the butt....

And they have for me, numerous amounts of time. Each time it happens, I say to myself "Laura, this is the last time. You have got to start holding yourself accountable for such things." Do I listen?

You're probably right, I don't. But since I have a slightly larger than normal conscience, I always feel terrible and beat myself up about it. As I write this, I've been thinking about something I learned a few years ago. I'll share it with you now:

"Excuses are tools for the incompetent, which create monuments of nothingness.
Excuses do not explain excuses.
Explanations do not explain excuses.
Those who emphasize in them are seldom good at anything else."

Now I have no idea where that came from, just that it has been passed down over the years. For awhile, reciting that in my head helped awhile. Until I learned to mute the little voice in the back of my head reminding me about it. It is just so much easier to make an excuse to rid ourselves of the responsibility we have to ourselves and to each other. We tell ourselves it's not our fault and wipe our hands of the situation. I think the same can be said about the fraternal community. For whatever reason, we find a way to blame the guilt on other people.

But... now we are all in the position to stop making excuses for ourselves. We can do something about the obstacles we face. I know it's easy and there are going to be times when we will want to, but we can't. And when things get tough, know that you have a classroom full of people who are willing to support you. No one wants to see friends struggle. I think our commitment to our values and our passion for what we stand for will serve as that crutch to lean on when we need to.