Before this mornings walk I pulled a coaching card*:
‘When there is no difference between your reasons and your excuses.’
It kind of threw me because I think of them as different, that my reasons to do something fight with my excuses not to. That reasons are noble, excuses disastrous. Reasons make things happen, excuses stop them. But what if they were the same?
I thought about one of my projects (Artist Cave) I’ve been dreaming of offering and have been caught up in the ‘doing’ of making the dates, texts, web pages; I’d had excuses of being too busy, too burned out, caring for a parent, the garden, the heat. The reasons had been getting people together, earning money, completing the dream, doing what I said I would do. I notice they kind of feel the same by their harshness. That was a surprise.
So I asked what was missing and I realised I’d forgotten about the joy of working with artists, of being in service as a facilitator and how that feels, of watching someone land an insight that you know is going to make a huge difference.
Reasons also tell me I need to do this then that, it tells me the words must make sense, the sessions earn money, the participants have this or that experience. The excuses tell me that I needed a break, to put someone else first or the dog, or the washing… The attention goes between reason and excuse, and between them the ego can give a real bashing here and pull up old negative stories, but when I feel the joy of the work, the project, it kind of melts the issues and feels grounded, possible, joyful.
So my ‘What if…’ question for you is, what area of your life are you caught up between reasons and excuses, and have lost the magical, beautiful, joyful, intention behind it.
*Coaching cards written by Chuck Spezzano, Psychology of Vision, including quotes from A Course In Miracles; tarot; mythologies.
