Excuses and the Road Less Traveled By

“Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts.”
―Edward R. Murrow

It’s been a very eventful past couple of days. And, during those 48 hours, I was reminded why so many self-help books miss the mark. We’re always told that there are “no excuses” for not getting fit, finding love or making oodles of money… yet, there are.

A friend of mine, who is studying to be a doctor, recently told me that he’s had trouble making it to the gym on a regular basis, and it bothered him. Well, yeah, that’s the reality of going to medical school — time is limited.

Even “fit mom” Maria Kang, who drew the ire of many for her “What’s Your Excuse” mantra after giving birth to her third child in 2013, subsequently realized that the playing field is not always even — sometimes there are valid reasons why people fall short of their goals.

After separating from her husband (not sure where that stands now guys, so, by all means, barrage her with e-mails and pictures of you shirtless in the gym) and dealing with depression, Kang took to Instagram to express her remorse.

… I am 10lbs [sic] up since I shot that ‘What’s Your Excuse’ photo! So here I am,” she wrote, in part. “This is a raw photo with absolutely no retouching, no preparation and no shame. I’m finding my beauty again, I’m discovering my strength again and I’m relearning what it means to be brave, bold and unapologetic about where I am in my life’s journey.

Suffice it to say, the photo, which has since been deleted, was hardly the stuff of nightmares, but folks seemed to appreciate Kang’s softened tone.

In my own case, I know my career has been hurt by the fact that I can’t easily relocate from my home in Colorado. If it was just me I could live in my car — which is one of those tiny Smart cars, built for Hobbits — down by the river, but I have a family to think of. As a result, I’ve had to turn down a lot of potential opportunities. Some days, the “what ifs” haunt me like Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart”.

Today is one of those days.

Now, don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying that one should throw in the towel or use excuses — even legitimate ones — to justify failure. Ultimately, I believe, as Michael Jordan does, that “obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

I will do just that. But, today, I will ponder why I took the road less traveled by and how different my life might be if I’d taken a surer path.

Featured photo by Oliver Roos on Unsplash.