I couldn’t do this because…  I didn’t call you because… I am late because… I didn’t tell you because… It wasn’t me who did… etc.

The gazillion excuses we come up with to justify a wrongdoing or a failure in ourselves. It’s easier for us to find an excuse, a strong one; that would get us off the hook, or we try anyway. The excuses we convince others with, in turn, translate to valid reasons. We don’t think it’s an excuse. We believe it is a reason and therefore others should just understand and give us a break. But is that the truth? Is it a reason? Or is it just an excuse?

It is natural practice to point fingers at others or blame a circumstance for influencing the outcome. It’s never our fault. Something else was the reason behind our shortfalls. How often do we take full responsibility for the things we do or say? How sincere are we? How honest with ourselves are we?

We can be so lost in our lives sometimes, we keep going around in circles. It’s easy to lie to get ourselves out of an embarrassing situation. It’s perceived a better solution to blame everything around us than to say: “I made a mistake”, “I miscalculated”, “It slipped my mind”, “I wasn’t thinking properly”, “It’s my fault”, “I am sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

There is a sense of pride and liberation in admitting to yourself first then to others, that you made a mistake. Why is it so bad that you made a mistake? Do you think you are perfect all the time?  Do you think you know how to handle every situation before you experience it? So why aren’t we allowed to mess up from time to time? How are we growing anyway?  Isn’t it by the mistakes we make? So why aren’t we taking responsibility for them and admitting them the moment they happen? Why do we hide our faults? Why do we pretend we are perfect when we know we are not?  Why do we use excuse after excuse and never get embarrassed by our cowardly behaviour? Why we don’t stop being afraid to say: “I was wrong”, or “I learned from this and I will correct myself?”

“I am sorry”, the three toughest words for people to say. It’s easier to say: “I love you” than “I am sorry.” How interesting! Sadly, at times it is used insincerely. People are saying those words without meaning them or feeling any kind of remorse. They say it because it’s what the other person needs to hear so that they can move on and forget about the damage done. It is a form of manipulation.

Even within ourselves, we are scared to admit that we messed up. And what’s worse; is that we start to use excuses for everything. It starts by using excuses for why we didn’t do something for others. And continues by using excuses for why we can’t do things for ourselves. Excuses turn into reasons and the reasons paralyze us and we live with limits and endless roadblocks, as a consequence, never moving forward and barely allowing ourselves to learn any lessons.