Nixing The Blame Game

Ridiculous. That's how I would describe my stall attempts on gym attendance. I had an excuse to wait until 10 am. My visiting teachers were coming and early morning was taken up by writing.

But then it was 11:00, and I let picking up about the house take over. Then it was 11:30 and I decided to start a slow cook ham and cheesy potatoes dinner. And then at 11:30 I said, "after lunch."

I'd been wearing my work out clothes all morning. I thought about how easy it would be to just blow it off until tomorrow, thinking about the Almond Roca I wanted to make, but thought about excellence.

With grit I put on my running shoes, grabbed some clothing to drop off at the dry cleaners along the way, and headed out the door. The garage door broke! With the push of the button it gave a short lurch, and became stuck. Obstacles continued to build. The street out of the neighborhood was a little busier than average, but getting onto the main road was a challenge. I missed two full light cycles and sighed. Again I held my place. An accident at the ramp onto the freeway stopped movement. What would normally take a 5 min drive, instead took an hour. Crazy.

As I waited for things to clear, having to be still, I thought about my morning and human nature.

Excellence is about doing things that don't come naturally for us. Facing what we don't want to do because it's hard, not fun, inconvenient, or hard work. How often do we see an expectation, feel guilty, and then play the blame game to make us feel better? It would have been so easy to turn around and go home, and blame not getting to the gym on the traffic jam, or even the garage door--and stall again saying I need to call around to get it fixed.

How often do we blame our shortcomings, actions, situation, or way of thinking on our upbringing, circumstance, life's unkind dealt hand, or on another being?

As I thought about it, when we set aside all those outside influences, all the "baggage," we're left with only us. Destiny, individual progression is up to no one but us. We choose how we wish to act. When life deals us difficulty. We choose how we will respond. We choose what we will seek be it employment, education, or opportunities to serve. We choose how hard we will work and what sacrifices we will make for our good. In a sense, based on our preparation, we choose what opportunities can open to us.

If we simply look at life as cows do, and maintain grazing along the pasture we are already in, the view isn't going to change much. We choose to be or not to be seekers in our lives. We choose to control or not to control out true potential. The blame game provides a way for insecure people to justify their insecurity. And for insecurity to remain. That was an interesting realization. As I got to the gym, my own insecurities kicked in. I thought about that part of being human. The part that makes us turn away from the uncomfortable. I bought a locker lock. I'm in it for the long haul, and as I stretched, I felt good about being at the gym.

Today's physical focused task? Keep moving forward. On days off from the gym, a brisk walk. Siberian Huskies are good company.