Hank's Back
I knew I hadn't written a 'formal' newsletter in a while, but 7 months?!? Holy moly! Ok, so I've been busy, and I could come up with 20 legitimate excuses for not having written a newsletter. But I won't...instead I'll tell you a story... (Next month I'll tell you where I've been for the past 7 months and why it's so important for you).
Christy gave my another excuse... "I can't make it because the electric company turned off my power and I have to scramble to get it turned on before all my food in the refrigerator goes bad." "Why did they turn it off", I asked? "Because the realtor that I rented the place from didn't really tell me how important it was to get the power turned over in my name", Christy said. "Did he tell you anything about what to do about the power", I asked? Christy said, "Yes, he said I should call first thing Monday morning because he said they could monitor usage of power and might turn it off if they had seen a large increase over the weekend." I said, "So why didn't you call the power company in the morning?" "Because I didn't think it was 'that' important to call them first thing in the morning", Christy said, "and, the realtor should have told me how important it really was to call the power company. Plus, he gave me the wrong phone number. I'm really angry at him."
This real story, told to me by a friend I was trying to help, illustrates a very important human nature trait we all have to some degree. One that could kill all of our potential to accomplish anything worthwhile in this world.
This common human nature trait is our ability to make EXCUSES and blame something or someone else for our problems.
I think it's pretty clear to everyone that read about Christy above that she was being unreasonable and unfair. After all, it's not the realtor's fault that Christy had her power turned off, is it? And yet, Christy "blamed" the realtor for problems that SHE got herself into through HER actions (or inactions).
It's real easy to shift the blame when we have problems and are not achieving what we want. But most of the time the reasons we don't get what we say we want are because our actions are not in sync with what we say our desires are. We are incongruent (say one thing, do another) with ourselves.
We all need to step "outside" of our selves once in a while and take an honest, hard look at our actions. Are they in line with with what we say we want?
How many times have you said, "this is it, I'm finally going to get in shape!" Yet, your actions were not "congruent" with your intentions, and you had that donut, or that "little" bit of ice cream, or that extra helping of food.
Let's face it... the BOTTOM LINE is we are EXACTLY where we are in life as a DIRECT RESULT of the actions we have taken in the past. It is as simple as that. There are really no excuses (although I'm sure you could make some up - but you'd be lying to yourself) for not having the body you want, or even the amount of money or success in life you'd like to have. It's simply about choices.
Harsh words? Maybe, but someone has to say them because we are drowning in a world of excuses and blame shifting. I am not perfect by any stretch, and I know that everything I have, or don't have, is a direct result of the choices I have made. And I'm as guilty as they come.
But I have learned not to make excuses, because they will not bring about the desired result.
What about you?
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