All I Can Come Up With Are Excuses

Have you ever noticed that some people ask for advice, and no matter what anyone tells them, they have an excuse why that won't work. I see that all the time with exercise. Someone will say "I want to start exercising, but I don't know what I should do because I work full time and have 7.5 children, and my hobby is wrestling gnats, and I am dedicated to my peck of pickled peppers club. Give me some advice!"

or

"I know I should exercise, but I really hate it."

or

I just stubbed my big toe and the doctor says I can't tap dance for three weeks. What are some exercise suggestions?"

So then all the good natured and kind people start giving suggestions of exercises the person can do and no matter WHAT they suggest, that person has a reason why it won't work.

Why don't you get one of those great WATP tapes and work out at home?

I really hate working out at home, besides DD interrupts me all of the time and then the dog gets in my way. Sometimes the phone rings and I feel like I need to answer it. It just never seems to work out.

Okay....

Well how about walking? Walking is an excellent form of exercise and anyone with legs can do it.

Well it's Winter here and today it was eleventy-two below, and besides it rains all the time and I don't like to walk in the rain.

okay....

Well then why not try going to the Mall and walking? Do you have a Mall near you? Lots of people mall-walk.

Yeah I have a mall. I guess I could do that, but then I always stop and window shop (insert the LOL here), besides I hate walking alone.

oKay.....

Have you considered joining a gym? There are lots of classes you can take and machines you can use and it's really a good investment in your health.

Well there is a YMCA but it's 25 feet away and I don't want to drive that far. Besides, it's a meat market. (Never mind that this person has probably never been IN the gym to witness if it is, indeed, a meat market.)

Alrighty.....

Well I notice you live in Excuseville and I just checked the website for Curves and they have one actually right IN your livingroom and it's only $30 a month, which is quite reasonable. It's an easy workout, but you can pump it up if you need to and get a really good sweat on.

Oh my best friend's, sister's, dog's, toenail braider went to Curves once and she didn't like it. Besides, that might mean I'd actually have to work out and if you haven't figured it out by now, I really don't want to do anything but make excuses. I just posted because I figured I might earn some whining APs and get lots of attention for a little while.

The fact is, for every thing that we should do in our lives, there are at least a dozen excuses that we can come up with stating why we can't, won't, or shouldn't. Consider this; successful people make plans. Unsuccessful people make excuses. Next time you catch yourself making excuses as to why you can't do something you know you should do, say to yourself, "successful people make plans, unsuccessful people make excuses...what do I want to be?" Then sit down and come up with five ways you CAN do it.

Oh sure, I understand not wanting to do something. There are days I don't want to go to the gym. Do you know what I do? I don't allow those thoughts a toe-hold. Sometimes I'll be finishing up my work for the day and the thought will creep into my head "You need to go to the gym after work." and then it is, at times, followed with "I don't FEEL like going to the gym."

So honestly I do this...I rephrase it. "I GET to go to the gym after work!" and if that negative thought tries to follow I completely push it out and say "Nope, think of something else." and then I do. I don't let those negative thoughts take over because once they get their mealy little fingers into my brain, they have amazing powers of persuasion.

I also know that sometimes there are real reasons for not being able to do something. You can't very well join the YMCA or even Curves if you are so strapped for money you're not making your monthly bills. But you have feet, you have a radio, you can dance. You can go for a walk. You can go for a short jog. You can do some sit-ups. You can fill two-gallon milk jugs with water and lift them. You can bench press a 10-pound bag of potatoes over your head. In short, if you want to make exercise a priority, you can. If you want to make excuses a priority, you will.

But if you're making excuses, don't talk to me. This is the girl who was in the gym six days after surgery in January. This is the girl who USED to make nothing BUT excuses, but now makes time. This is the girl who, the day she got out of the hospital after having had two surgeries in the previous three weeks, went for a walk just to get some exercise, and went to the gym the next day. No, I wasn't running a marathon, but I was saying to myself, "I can't do much, but I can do something" and I did it.

Oh sure, I'm bragging a little here and I can feel you rolling your eyes...but the fact is, for whatever situation that you're in, I guarantee that somewhere in the world there is someone else who is in a worse situation and is making plans, not excuses. Choose to be one of those amazing, inspirational people and make a way to do it!

Have I Told You What a Wonderful Husband I Have?

So yesterday morning the alarm goes of at 4:00 a.m. Why at 4 a.m. you ask? Because it is Black Friday. Yes, the day when all complete nutballs get up at the ungodly hour of 4 a.m. and brave the malls, shopping centers, and computer stores to be the first to have the newest holiday toys.

So Roy gets up, but he lets me sleep in. He takes off. The dogs and cat snuggle into bed with me, and we all go back to sleep with the sound of the rain and wind at the windows, and a fleeting "The man is a complete nut..." thought as we drift back off.

1 Good Doobie Point

At about 7:00 we all get up and head into the shower. Roy was just getting home. The dogs were happy to see him. He brought me a new DVD player for my classroom and a personal one for my desk. (The sales were amazing. Not amazing enough for me to drag ass out of bed, but pretty darn amazing.) I shower, change into some warm clothes, with the promise of a "Christmas filled day" ahead of me.

We take off to Seattle where it's raining and windy. We make our way up to the skybridge between Nordstrom and Pacific Place and start our day with the Seattle Christmas Parade! What fun! Roy is one of the few men I know who truly loves a parade.

He then took me to my favorite place for lunch, Todai. All you can eat sushi is an idea whose time has come, I tell you. Fortunately it came to Seattle, finally. We'd first experienced this amazing phenomenon in California. Roy is not a sushi eating man, but they have a hot side. So I was able to eat my fill without going over points, and he was able to enjoy what he likes.

2 Good Doobie Points

From there we did a little shopping then headed over to the Seattle Center House under the guise of seeing the train. (They have a really neat train set up there every Christmas.) We saw the train, listened to an awesome bagpipe band. (No, I am not kidding. I happen to really like bagpipe bands.) Then he said "Come on, let's go" and I followed him to the Opera House, where he surprised me with tickets to see the matinee of the Pacific Northwest Ballet Nutcracker! They do an AMAZING Nutcracker. Twenty years ago Kent Stowall (ballet director and choreographer got together with Maurice Sendack and designed a magical, wonderful, beyond description rendition of the Nutcracker.

3 Good Doobie Points!

After the Nutcracker, which was wonderful although slightly marred by too many children who weren't old enough to sit through an entire ballet, but that is a major rant for another time, we made our way back to Westlake to take our places for the Christmas tree lighting. Every year the day after Thanksgiving they have a tree lighting with music, Santa, and a HUGE tree and the Bon Holiday Star lighting. Usually there are also fireworks, but as it was pretty windy, the fire marshall put the kibosh on that. It was still pretty darn cool.

4 Good Doobie Points!

While we were leaving the tree lighting to go to dinner, some creepy guy was literally kneading my butt (it was very crowded). I thought it was Roy, but imagine MY surprise when I turned around and saw him three people back! When I told him he wanted to know who it was so he could defend my honor.

Even if he really wasn't going to beat the guy up, Score another good Doobie point! for making me feel loved!

We went to dinner and then walked down to the Paramount theater to watch the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes' Christmas Spectacular. It was, in a word, spectacular! How fun is it to see a group perform whom you've heard about all of your life?

6 Good Doobie Points!

Wow what a day! It was a wonderful way to welcome the holiday season and it was ALL planned by Roy! What did I do to deserve him?