My sons are both in high school and almost every night at the dinner table they share the latest version of "the dog ate my homework" excuse that one or more of their classmates used that day. They have heard everything at school from "my Mom gave me a pineapple smoothie for breakfast and I am allergic to pineapples and couldn't finish my work" to "the dishwasher flooded our kitchen and my homework is now under water". I often wonder how the teachers keep a straight face! As funny as these pathetic excuses may seem and as easy as it is for us to point fingers, are we guilty of doing the same thing? Are you a card-carrying member of the Lame Excuses Club? If you have ever talked yourself out of getting something done, then you just may be guilty as charged.
The good news is: there is a cure for this disease I call "Excusamania" and today's blog is not going to be filled with "tough love" to get you to change your wicked ways. I am hoping you will be inspired by the story I am about to share.
Today I want to tell you about my Mom - Joyce. Joyce is a two-time breast cancer survivor/thriver! I call her a thriver because she is not just living, she is not merely a survivor, but she is thriving! Joyce is determined to live her best and healthiest life and has a smile on her face the entire time she is doing it! Over the years, she has counseled many women going through breast cancer and I fully believe that the power of Joyce's positivity was part of the cure for each and every woman she helped. Every phone call she made left the person on the other end knowing that they had everything they needed within them to win their fight against the disease. Joyce's help extended far and wide but it also hit close to home as she took care of my Dad each and every day of his extended illness. Now widowed, my Mom has a sunny outlook on life and once again continues to help others as she takes the time to speak with newly widowed women to help them through their grief. Joyce understands the power of taking your health into your own hands and doing something about it instead of making excuses. As she used to tell us "winners take responsibility and losers blame others". You will never hear my Mom saying "the dog ate my homework" or her version of an excuse for not taking care of herself. She eats well, she makes sure to get enough rest and her workout plan is inspiring! Joyce does laps every day! Since we just recently said goodbye to the "winter that would never end", you may be wondering where my Mom does her laps. Believe it or not, she does them in her townhouse!
My Mom made the decision that exercise was going to be a priority in her life and came up with a plan to make it happen every day. She mapped out a route for herself in her home, gave herself a time goal (30 minutes each day), determined how many laps she needed to do in order to reach her goal, put together several music playlists on her iPhone, and figured out how to sync her phone to her blue-tooth speakers. When she presses play on her phone, she is off to the races! Every day she walks that route in her home over and over again until her 30 minutes of music have ended. She said that sometimes it's Josh Groban doing the laps with her, some days she feels like she is walking the streets of Italy when Andrea Bocelli is singing to her in Italian, she has my Dad with her on the days she walks to the Frank Sinatra playlist, and she is "hip and happening" on the days she is walking to the latest pop music. One thing remains the same each day, the music is always uplifting and energizing and keeps her moving the entire 30 minutes! I am not going to tell you my Mom's age, let's just say that she is closer in age to Candice Bergen than Cardi B. No matter the number, her NO-EXCUSES approach to wellness is one that I find inspiring!
The next time you find yourself saying: "it's too hot", "it's too cold", "my yoga pants are in the wash", "I am too tired", or "that pineapple smoothie I had for breakfast just didn't agree with me", I want you to think of my Mom Joyce doing her daily laps! If you are in need of a dose of tough love, then just think about the very wise words of Benjamin Franklin, "He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else."