People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them. George Bernard Shaw
What is the difference between an excuse and a circumstance? An excuse is why we did or didn’t do something; an entirely plausible reason, a defense, a rationalization we can live with to explain away action or inaction. Circumstance is a state that we are in, the details surrounding a situation, or a condition that causes something to occur.
Is there a difference between excuses that stand in our way of living authentically, or is it circumstances that seem to limit our choices, reduce our options, and hamper our ability to be happy? Are you the person with excuses or the one in the mist of circumstances?
Example: There is someone who has crossed a boundary, and you would like to bring up the topic. However, you are not quite sure how to do it without making the situation worse. So, you procrastinate by avoiding the conversation. Maybe it is asking for a raise, or having a conversation with a loved one that could change the relationship. Asking for what we want is a powerful skill, but if we do not practice it, we will find ourselves regularly frustrated with people or the circumstances or excuses of our life.
Having the ability to know the difference between excuses and circumstances, takes on the embodiment of insight. We all have moments of in-depth understanding, moments when we accessed a deep well of insight and suddenly understood something that formerly caused us great confusion and conflict. Insights or awareness are the results of inner growth.
Growth is a necessary occurrence in life and how we respond to it determines the path in which we will stand. Going from one mindset to another and then another is a natural progression — it is our evolution of personal-clarity. There are so many of us (no matter our circumstances or excuses) who have a belief of unworthiness; I am not tall enough, not before I lose more weight, on and on.
Unworthiness, my friend, is counter-intuitive to the human psyche; the natural progression of self-awareness changes as we embody deeper insight into self. As this occurs, we began to awaken to our most profound truth.
Once we embrace our circumstances and learn the value of them, then we can be strengthened and build upon it. Once we understand why we have excuses, the growth of more profound insight into awareness prevails.
