Whine

I'm learning not to whine. Again. In high school, I had a button on my backpack that said WHINING with a big red slash through it. I should have kept it around. I can't stand to hear people whine, and then I find myself doing it! "Too busy," "too tired," the list goes on forever. And I'm a very productive individual - it just goes to show you that little excuses can keep any of us from meeting our potential. We all need to be getting out and LIVING more. I love the Alanis Morissette song "Excuses":

Why no one will help me
I am too dumb I am too smart
They'll not understand me
I am lonely
They'll hate me
And there is not enough time
It's too hard to help me
And god wants me to work
No resting no lazy

These excuses how they served me so well
They've kept me safe
They've kept me stoic
They've kept me locked in my own cell

I'm too far from home
It takes far too much energy
And I cannot afford to
No one will ever see me

These excuses how they served me so well
They've kept me safe
They've kept me stoic
They've kept me locked inside my cell

These excuses how they're so familiar
They've kept me small
They've kept me blocked
They've kept me safe inside my shell

Bringing this into the light
Shakes their foundation
And it clears my side
Now my imagination
Is the only thing that limits
The bar that is raised to the heights

No one can have it all see
I have to they want me to
And I can't let them down
I'll never be happy ----

This song made me realize a while back that we are constantly rationalizing our thoughts away and making excuses for our behaviors. It's also made me mindful of the risks I am sometimes too afraid to take. I only get one shot at life (at least this time around), and mediocrity is not something I strive for. Even my high school college entrance essay proclaimed: "Go places. Do things." All of this to say - enjoy the here and now, and do something with it. Hurry up!