John R. Miles

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ILLUMINATION

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Life can be a complicated dance, and one thing is sure — we are all likely to make excuses for our mistakes along the way. That is because none of us is perfect. Sometimes we fall short and fail in our personal behavior, and the consequences of our excuses reflect that. When faced with situations, the final choices we make (whether good or bad) to handle the challenge will illustrate how effectively we manage our lives.

Let me give you a simple example. A few weeks ago, I was supposed to meet a friend for dinner. Unfortunately, “something had come up at the last minute at work,” and he told me he couldn’t make it. I am sure this is an excuse we’ve all heard countless times.

This friend has severe FOMO, which dictates how he lives his life. It is no surprise that a few days later, I found out he ditched me to hang out with another group of people who were out.

People can be highly imaginative when it comes to making excuses. As in my friend’s example, we use them to get out of situations every day for various reasons.

There are many excuses we make every day, ‘I can’t exercise because I don’t have time,’ ‘I forgot to call my best friend on their birthday because I had to work,’ or ‘I am late for an appointment because I was stuck on a call.’

Sometimes, we make excuses just because we don’t want to commit to something or want to leave ourselves open in case something better comes along. Or, perhaps we are just lazy and tend to procrastinate instead of making a commitment.

However, other times, we use them to remove ourselves from something that may be difficult or undesirable or something that is generating fears, worries, or uncertainty.