An excuse is defined as attempt to lessen the blame attaching to (a fault or offense); seek to defend or justify. We all have a plethora of excuses why we don't do what we are supposed to do. We all want to be thin but we are unwilling to do what is required to get us where we want to be physically. We continue to take medications to mitigate what we can take care of naturally if only we would be disciplined enough to do what is needed. We want a better job and a thriving career but we continue to wish luck would just shine on us as if people who have what we desperately want sat around waiting for luck. We want to save for retirement but we watch the shopping channel and ask for the seller to send us two of every item.

Excuses are the bane of our lives. We cook them up to abdicate responsibility at every turn. As a counselor, I listen in fascination to the excuses people have for holding a grudge against someone for years who doesn't even care. I have heard a variety of reasons why people stay in physically and emotionally abusive relationships as if there are no options available to them. Some even go as far as exposing innocent children to the toxicity.

While I appreciate that change is hard, isn't it about time we stop making excuses for things that are totally within our control? There's nothing more demoralizing than complaining about the same thing year after year; making the same promises at the start of every New Year and going around and around the same mulberry bush.

If you spent 2018 coming up with excuses, try something different in 2019. Don't wait for January 1st. Start now! Acknowledging that you are in a bad situation once is enough. Making the same acknowledgment over and over again is a choice. At the end of the day, you can come up with excuses or you can come up with results. The choice is pretty much yours to make.