What’s Your Excuse?

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Every now and then our path in life blends, even if only for a short while, with the path of a few extraordinary individuals, which inspire us, and we keep in our mind forever. Today I was lucky enough to meet such a person, in the most unexpected place of all, at the gym.

Usually, the gym is the place where only a small percentage of the people subscribing are actually dedicated to working out, while the majority spend their time chatting, clicking pictures for various social networks, or sitting down complaining about how bad their muscles hurt, after the first 5 minutes of training. However, today I saw the most dedicated person working out, which got me thinking about my actions, and the actions of those around me.

A young man, with Down Syndrome, pushing against the mobility impairment, a problematic ankle, and very poor eyesight, got on the treadmill, completely dedicated to finishing his workout. Later on, he moved from one equipment to the other, not giving up, until he got the job done. To my surprise, he did a better job than most of us there!

I was so impressed and proud to see him going for what he wants, ignoring the physical limitations, and working together with his body, as a team, to become stronger.

Success-InspirationMy mind couldn’t help but think about those of us, who are lucky enough to be in good health, capable of pretty much any challenge, who choose to not go for what we want, who don’t step out of their comfort zone, who find excuses.

It’s always easier to say: ‘I can’t do that‘, instead of saying: ‘I don’t want to do that‘. Subconsciously, when someone can’t do something, we look at them with different eyes, than we look at a person who doesn’t want to do the same thing. Honesty is being punished, because the excuses are more powerful to the brain.

This is why we choose to say we can’t, sometimes even without trying, and we make excuses for ourselves. The excuses are so powerfully embedded into our brains, to such an extent, that our mind shifts into that powerful negative state, which determines you to fail. Telling yourself that it won’t happen, convincing yourself that you can’t do it, it will make it not happen.

And so, we make excuses for ourselves, we say no, we fail. We fail to get out of our comfort zone, we fail to try, we push away any chance to succeed, when actually, we only have to break the mental barriers we set ourselves.

And we see people who have to fight through physical and mental limitations, dreaming the dream, setting the goal, going out there, fight with themselves and the world, and achieving what they want. Their road to success is 10 times harder than the same road a healthy person has to take, and even so, they don’t quit. Why? Because they don’t have room for excuses. They don’t let limitations put them down, but they work with those limitations, and get where they have to go. Now, how powerful is that?

I believe such persons should be an inspiration for all of us, and their amazing journeys should make us realize WE CAN DO IT. There’s no such thing as ‘I can’t’, there’s only ‘I don’t want to’.

The biggest barrier between you and success, is yourself. Always yourself, no one and nothing else. Nothing can stop a determined person to reach the goal. Success, is in the end, only a state of mind. Our minds are such powerful tools that if we set them to ‘I can’t‘ or ‘I can‘, in the end, that’s going to be the outcome, so tell yourself as often as needed: ‘I CAN‘. If you want it, you can do it! It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it! Want it, dream it, do it!

What’s Your Excuse?

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39 thoughts on “What’s Your Excuse?”

  1. I also really admire those people with problems or disabilities who just get on with it anyway, and do not use it as an excuse. It is all in the mind, like you say. We are the only ones limiting ourselves.

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    • Thank you so much for reading, and for your lovely comment! I think it’s impossible to not admire them as they can teach us a lot about determination and many more. 🙂
      Are your still have problems with the internet connection?
      Have a lovely day! x

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  3. This is a very moving post for me personally, Lucy, as my sister has Down’s Syndrome – she’s in her 40’s now doesn’t work out in the gym much she loves her food and shopping for clothes and jewellery!! I’ll be seeing her again soon and we will no doubt be doing a big shopping expedition! Thanks for sharing and have a lovely weekend 🙂

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    • Thank you so much for reading! I had no idea this post is going to touch so close to home. I hope you will have the chance to go on the shopping trip with your sister. I’m sure that’s going to make her very happy!
      I was so moved and inspired by that young man, especially when you see him working out next to others, who only spend their time on the phone… I was very happy to see him doing it!
      Have a lovely weekend! xo ❤

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  4. I love this post Lucy. It is full of hope and inspiration. It is humbling to see what others can achieve when they have so much to overcome. Thank you for sharing this and for the connection you have made with this young man.
    Karen x

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    • Thank you so much for reading and for your kind words, Karen! I was definitely impressed by his determination. Such a wonderful person makes some people, who find excuses in everything, look very bad. I hope he’ll keep it up, because he’s an inspiration for all of us. xo

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      • It is so hard for us to help others who get de-motivated. I know, because it happens to me too. Suddenly, I feel that I don’t feel full of joy and before I know it, I lose my way and am not able to do all the things which actually make me feel better. But I do have friends who get into the same space and I so want to help them to get out of it, but of course that is not always possible, because it is the individual who must find their own drive and determination.
        It will be useful for us all to keep the young man in the gym in our hearts and minds for when we lose our way x

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      • Thank you so much for your beautiful words, Karen! As you said, we can’t really help others on this one. Motivation comes from inside, so we can only guide them towards the right path. We have to find inside us, the strength to do what makes us happy. xo ❤

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  5. I’ll be honest with you, I often say “I can’t run”, “I can’t go to the gym today”.’I can’t use this program”, “I can’ etc”.. and the truth is that I just don’t want to do, I’m probably lazy. It’s one of my bad side, I get easily discouraged. But you are right, everyone should takes example on this people. Their will is incredible. I should change my state of mind. This post made me realized something, thanks.

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    • Thank you for your lovely comment, Gin! Don’t believe for one second you’re the only one in this situation. So am I. I get so easily discouraged, that I miss on things because I’m afraid to try. I always fear that I will fail, or it’s too hard and I can’t do it. The truth is that we lose only if we don’t try. This is why I started learning programming and I quit a few times… Now that I gave it my best, it clicked!
      Such people have a lot to give us. I’m really happy that young man inspired you as well. It sure made me realize a lot about myself.
      Have a lovely weekend! x

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  6. there are people in our lives who look physically normal, but have other deficiencies, which can be repaired or not …. … ..Lucy impressive article, congratulations

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  7. What an inspiring text Lucy!
    Funny because today I saw a photographer with only one hand… and it kept me thinking about the same thing!
    I always said I couldn’t run, it was too difficult because of my asma… until one day I saw a sign that had a person running and the saying: your mind gives up before your body does. Then, it really inspired me to start running… and guess what? I now run 6 km every day ❤ and I love it! 😀
    So yes, it really depends on us!
    Great post!

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    • Thank you so much for reading! I’m really happy to know you enjoyed it. 🙂
      Wow, 6 km? I’m very much impressed. That’s great! Don’t give up on it, because it has great benefits for your health, and also your mind. Whenever I’m in a bad mood, I always exercise, and I always find myself feeling so much better afterwards.
      Like you also noticed, people with limitations find a way to follow their dreams. Such an inspiration, for all of us!
      Thank you for sharing your story with me! ❤

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      • You’re welcome 🙂
        Yes I did enjoy it, especially the way you write. No I won’t give up… I love exercising, as you said, it feels sooo good afterwards!
        Yes, I am often impressed by people with limitations doing things that most of us don’t! It only shows us that we are all capable of doing it, we just need to try and put some effort!!
        And it was a pleasure sharing my story with you 😀

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      • Thank you once again for your kind words. It always makes me so happy to hear people enjoy my writings! 🙂
        I’m happy to hear you won’t give up! That’s the spirit! Keep up the good work and have a lovely week! ❤

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  8. Lucy, such an inspiring post and it keeps one thinking and reflecting on how we look at life. We take things for granted and we take our normal life and routine activities as boring and we keep cribbing about the small things missing in our life. But we forget the big things that has been gifted to us, we are blessed and we are lucky and we are not happy, but happiness is a state of mind and it is relative, as we keep seeing the challenges others have and how difficult others led their life and how we are so privileged.
    The pictures speak volumes…
    😀

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    • Nihar, thank you so much for reading and for your feedback! You are so right. It seems like we don’t really value the most important things in life, like our health. In the end, we can accomplish much without it. We chase fortunes, when the real fortune is not really tangible. Worse thing is when you see someone destroying their health for money,just so they can pay money to fix their health…
      And yes, happiness is a state of mine, and so is success. It’s all in the most powerful organ of all, our brain.
      Have a lovely weekend! All the best!

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      • My pleasure reading such beautiful thoughts and inspiring words…simple things are so powerful in life we get swayed away and get lost in the complexity of life, the beauty of life lies in its simplicity. It is how we look at life and how value it, health is indeed the real wealth and we get lost in the cacophony of life and realize the true essence of life only when we go through a crisis, but is important to learn from such crisis and not repeat it.

        Everything is in our mind and indeed happiness is state of mind…absolutely so is success.

        Love it…
        You too…
        😀

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      • Thank you for your kind words! I love to hear I inspire people with my writings 🙂
        Unfortunately, not many realize the true essence of life, or understand that they shouldn’t repeat the crisis. I know people who say it can’t happen to them, or that it can’t happen again. Really sad…
        Still, amazing to meet inspiring people in places you don’t expect 🙂

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      • So true, it is a great feeling that our writing is changing the thinking and making others life better…it is wonderful instrument for driving changing in the society. Life is such a fascinating journey, we keep learning and keep meeting wonderful people, each day counts and each individual we meet has a purpose in life, we somehow don’t realize the significance of interaction and engagement with the outside world, keeping our inside world intact…
        😀

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      • The moment when you stop learning from other people is the moment when you are dead. The most destructive attitude is the one when someone acts like they know everything and it’s no need to add anything new to their bucket of knowledge. That can’t do anything good for them.
        Every person we meet, every event in our life, either positive or negative, teaches us something. It’s up to us to open our eyes and learn the lesson.
        Have a lovely weekend, my friend! x

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      • Indeed, learning is the life line of everybody and for creative people it more so, as learning has to be more many things and in different ways…yes, it is in the attitude and all great people are humbled when asked about their knowledge and learning…the more they learn, the more they want to learn as they release that how little they know. Learning is everywhere, and again it is in our attitude to look at things and how we observe and absorb…

        You too have a great week ahead…
        Looking forward…

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      • You’re so right! We can’t move forward without constant learning, and the more we learn, the more we realize how much we still have to learn. It’s up to us to open our eyes to what needs to be seen, and grow everyday a bit.
        All the best and a lovely week! 🙂

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    • Thank you so much for reading, Indah! I’m happy to hear you enjoyed it so much 🙂 My aim is always to inspire people, so it’s great to hear I managed to do so! Have a lovely weekend! ❤

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    • Thank you so much for reading, Sue! I’ve also been there a few times in the past. Seeing that young man really made me look at my actions with different eyes. Cheers to not making excuses! 🙂

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