I must admit, it's COLD outside but I am not going to let it stop me from doing what I do. This morning was a little different. I woke up with a lot of thoughts on my mind. It was like my thoughts were on a highway that had no speed limit. I guess I can begin by telling you what my thoughts were.
The first thought that was on my mind was in the form of a quote-"It's hard to hide behind excuses when opportunity is always around." It bothers me when people start making excuses as to why they can't get something accomplished when they have all the resources and opportunity to make it happen. Every time I would hear someone make an excuse about not accomplishing a goal of theirs, I would sit back and evaluate the situation. After a careful evaluation, I would then give them an alternative suggestions as to how they could accomplish their goal and get around their excuse. I noticed every time I did this, I would get this weird look (as if I shouldn't have said anything) and an awkward silence. For a while I starting thinking that maybe I wasn't being sensitive to their situation. But then I thought about what my great grandmother use to tell me all the time. She would say that most people don't want to hear the truth, especially when it's about them not doing something that they should be doing. My great grandmother was smarter than her sixth grade education level gave her credit for. I see now that wisdom can't be measured by your level of education but can be measured by your level of life experience. I was trying to be a good friend and give some good advice because I just thought maybe they hadn't thought about the idea that I had given them. But I see it doesn't work that way. I guess that is why teachers aren't appreciated until after the student has been taught.
I think all of this steered from the fact that I don't like the word "settle." This is probably the only word in the dictionary that I really don't like. I don't like to settle for ANYTHING. I think that it's pointless when you have so many opportunities. The reason why I dislike this word is because I almost settled at one point in my life. When I was dating my wife, I would go all out for her. I wined and dined and even did the little things. I wrote poems, left cards on her door step and sent flowers all the time. I had all grounds covered. Well, one day we were talking about the type of man I was and she made the statement, "you're not perfect." When she made this comment, she made it with a conviction in her voice. It took me by surprise because I was under the impression that the way that I was treating her was the way that every woman wanted to be treated. This made me reevaluate myself. I started downplaying who I really was. I even stop talking about things that I did for her and I also stopped doing all that I was doing. I thought to myself what is the point. But then one day I was watching television and saw a show they were doing on great athletes. Micheal Jordan name came up and they acknowledged him as the greatest player to play the game. Then they started showing his work ethics. How much time he put into practicing and working out. They showed how diligent he was when it came to paying attention to details on the court. I immediately thought to myself, "if you practice hard at something, you will be the best at it and if you are, you just are."
I had to come to grips that I was the Micheal Jordan of dating. I had worked very hard to get to where I was. I paid attention to what women wanted. I asked women a lot of questions. I sent flowers and gifts to women that I wasn't dating. I even went out on dates with women just to observe. I put in a lot of work so that when I made a commitment to that special someone, I would be able to make it right. I did all of this so that I wouldn't have to go through all of the turmoil that I had heard people speak of when they spoke about dating. I figured if I worked hard, sacrificed and did what was right that I could avoid all of the extra drama. So once I got over the comment she made, I was back at being me again. I refuse to let someone dictate who I was. It wasn't my fault that I fell close to being a perfect guy. What a minute, it was my fault. I was close to being a perfect guy because I had practice being a perfect gentlemen. I thought to myself, "forgive me for trying to become a great man, but it's not going to stop me."
This is how I think God intended for our life to be. It should be what we make it. If he wanted it any different he wouldn't have given us the ability to make choices. Stop making excuses and stop settling. Don't let your life make you, start making your life. I refuse to say that this is happening because that's just the way life is. No! Life is what you make it. You don't revolve around life, life revolves around you. YOU ARE LIFE...LIVE IT!
"It's hard to hide behind excuses when opportunity is always around"-K.J Swint
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