I’ve heard it all before, and so have you.
You may even have uttered something similar to the excuses I’m about to offer you as examples.
“I could have gotten a better grade if I’d spent a little more time on it.”
“I wish I had more time to read.”
“The professor (or boss) expects too much from us. How will we get it all done?”
“I wish I could finish that house project.”
“I keep saying I’m going to organize my closets and give clothing and items that I no longer wear or use to a non-profit.”
“I wish I could write a novel.”
You get the gist.
We are full of excuses as to why we don’t get things done we want to get done. We are ripe with reasons why something doesn’t go the way we want, give us the results we thought we were going to get, or complete something that we hoped we would.
Hoping doesn’t get things done. Neither does wishing. Neither does excuse-making.
The four letter word that needs to be removed from your vocabulary, even if you don’t say it out loud, is the word LAZY.
LAZY
The word lazy brings us to places we would otherwise not want to go. Look at the time you have in your day. I bet you could start and finish something you wanted to accomplish if you just got off your duff and did it.
Being lazy is different from enjoying some down time. Down time is yours to do what you want. With my down time, I read, write, shop, decorate, do a craft—whatever suits me at the moment. Lazy is just avoiding something altogether. You are not being lazy by reading a book. That’s good. Don’t confuse the two.
You are being lazy by scrolling through your phone for hours upon end comparing your life to others with no intended purpose in mind. This type of activity prevents you from doing something productive. I have to remind some people I live with about this sometimes.
Honestly, lazy went out of my vocab when I started working for the Orioles in 1985. There was no time to be lazy. I worked. I worked hard as a sophomore in college, trying to balance the two, and I’ve been blessed to take that work ethic with me into everything I do, from teaching, to writing, to raising kids, to keeping my house the way I want it.
There are other four letter words I’ll tell you NOT to get rid of (and some that admittedly are rather fun to say), but using any form of the word LAZY…
Well, that’s the one that needs to go.
