excuses

Reasons why I decided not to go to the gym tonight:

1. My headphones are broken
2. My sneakers are muddy
3. I think I'm getting sick

This is the same sickness that I "think" I've been getting for the past 3 months now. I think my diagnosis is actually just a lack of working out. And yes, my sneakers are muddy. Really muddy. But I think they could be cleaned in a minimum of 5 minutes; plus, they've been this muddy for the past 3 weeks... I think it's time. Now, my headphones? That actually sucks. But I could've been innovative and brought a book rather than zoning out to the same 7 Kanye West tracks that I have listened to every time I've gone to the gym for the past 3 years. That would've been something else...

My point is, I'm really bad [or is it really good?] at making excuses. I almost didn't go through with my VERY FIRST blog post because I thought that looking for a new hair style on Pinterest was more important.

And I don't think I'm alone. I think that it's time for all of us to stop making these ridiculous excuses. It's time to give life - and ourselves - a little more credit. There are some incredible people, organizations, and ideas out there that are just too commonly ignored and I'm just not sure why. I constantly question why campaigns like this are more popular than campaigns like this. Or why it's so much easier to buy clothes from Abercrombie & Fitch than from Sevenly. It's not about right or wrong - I think people should love what they love - but I don't think we should hide behind excuses anymore. Excuses like,

• "Eh, I bet the clothes are made in sweat shops anyway."
• "The money doesn't even really help anyone when you think about it..."
• "I don't have the money for that right now."

I've said all of these excuses myself. And sometimes, they're totally true! But let's face it: I will probably spend $24 on coffee in the next week - why shouldn't I save that for a t-shirt to contribute to an awesome cause like those supported from Sevenly?

I think now is as better time as any to choose hope. To decide to have faith in our non-profits, our social entrepreneurs, our volunteers, and our neighbors. We are all in this world together. I think that we all see that there's a problem, and we all have thousands of ideas to fix it. Sure, every idea may not be "right", but that doesn't mean we should criticize. It means we should work even harder to make it right, together.

I hope this blog will help me take time to stop and think about how great life can be, how wonderful people are, and how I can make a positive impact to those wonderful people in this really great life.

So, here it is. Here I am. I will be posting on this blog at least once a week. No Excuses. Expect to find anything from random thoughts to cool non-profits to check out to small stories of hope & inspiration. Let the fun begin!