5 Excuses You Need To Stop Making For Yourself

You are not alone. Your life, your success, your happiness, they all matter to someone.

Updated 12 months ago, January 12, 2024

This is an exclusive excerpt from We Are Like Wells.

1. Whatever you’re grappling with in this moment is your permanent condition.

You are not your ailments or your afflictions. You are not the things you struggle to overcome or the things that slow you down from time to time. To put it bluntly, you deserve more than that. Even though this feels like forever, it isn’t. Remember that fact and use it to help you find faith in the moments of weakness.

2. The way you see your world is, in fact, how it really exists.

If it’s true that energy flows where attention goes then I guess you could say perception is key. As easy as it may feel to see the world around us with judgment and fear, we are certainly no better for it. When you’re wandering around in the dark it’s hard to find the light. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It can challenge every bit of your being, to say the least. However, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Reach out and find ways to continue the search. Find people that help to make that possible. And above all, remember that thoughts are only thoughts. You alone are the one that gives them power. Don’t trust every little rumination that comes to mind, especially if it isn’t one that serves you.

3. You will be happy when X, Y and Z finally come to fruition.

This is a slippery slope, one many of us are likely familiar with. After the high of achieving external things is over, we are forced once again to sit with ourselves. The only way to break this cycle is to purposefully slow down. To be still long enough to realize we already have everything we need. To put it frankly, you cannot fill yourself with “stuff,” no matter how hard you try, or how often you succeed.

4. It’s too embarrassing to reach out.

Give the people you love more credit. Trust that whatever you’re experiencing, either good or bad, they want to share in with you. You are not alone. Your life, your success, your happiness, they all matter to someone. Just believe that, and let them in. Let people surprise you, and remember when it’s your turn, to simply do the same.

5. You’re not allowed to feel less than okay.

Life isn’t a consistent mirage of rainbows and butterflies, and to believe otherwise is to feed into a false reality. Here me now when I say you are permitted to struggle with real pain or emotion. If you were not, well then you wouldn’t be much of a human, would you?

Acknowledging that you aren’t a robot doesn’t mean you are giving up or conceding to a life any less wonderful than you hope for it to be. All it says is that you’re working through shit, and that’s noble. It’s courageous, and it’s real.