Maybe you love excuses when they’re your own excuses and you really don’t love them when they are someone else’s excuses…
There’s not enough time…
They won’t listen to me…
This problem is too big…
The dog ate my homework…
There will never be a shortage of difficult situations to face. Physical, mental, social and emotional challenges seem to pop up at every bend on our road of progression.
And excuses give away our personal power.
It’s not what happens to you that creates your happiness. It’s what you chose to THINK about the experience that creates your happiness. And if you choose to think you are NOT accountable for your choices, you CANNOT be happy.
We are free “to act for (ourselves) and not to be acted upon” (2 Ne. 2:26).
“Behold, ye are free… to act for yourselves” (Helaman 14:30).
“Thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee” (Moses 3:17).
More recently, Elder Dale G. Renlund put it this way: “God is not interested in His children just becoming trained and obedient ‘pets’ who will not chew on His slippers in the celestial living room. No, God wants His children to grow up spiritually and join Him in the family business.”
While we are not always free to choose the trials that come to us, we retain the ability to choose how we react. Our reaction either weakens us or empowers us. Accountability increases our personal power.
Try replacing some of your excuses with something like these:
“I have not completed that, yet, and I will continue until it’s done.”
“I am working on a way to express myself better.”
“There’s an answer to every problem and I will continue until I find it.”
And, well, just do your homework.
By Melanie Kasper
liveJoy Founder and Life Coach
