No Excuses

Nothing can stop you unless you let it.

When you get knocked down do you stay down, or do you get back up? Most people like to think they get back up, but the truth is sometimes we don’t.

Almost everyone likes to hear about someone taking a bad situation and turning it upside down. Especially if that someone is a hero like a Veteran, media figure, or a person in the public eye. I mean was there ever a greater contestant on “Dancing With the Stars” than Noah Galloway? Sheesh, I don’t even watch Reality TV, but I was glued to the tube like millions of other Americans because of his story, determination and passion to give back to people. His strength is unbelievably motivating.

The sad thing though is that some of us enjoy seeing that happen for “other people” but at times in our own lives we think it can’t happen for us. That the “thing,” challenge, injury, hurdle, whatever seems too big, too hard or just too insurmountable to overcome.

Recently I saw a video that was truly inspiring. Every person in the world struggles with something, no one is perfect. Every human being has an imperfect body. As great as it would be to have everything work perfectly all the time like a well-oiled machine, that’s not real life, nor is that how we are designed. Whether it’s a goal, a dream, a passion, a physical challenge, everyone has something they want to achieve. Life happens though, things happen, and at times we get knocked down. It can be easy to fall into the excuses game. What we want to accomplish can seem so far off, so daunting that we can find it easier to just think “well so-and-so happened and so I will never be able to reach my goal.” 

This video shows that no matter what is thrown at you, there are never any acceptable excuses to not achieve anything. If something happens to you, you have two choices: stay down or get back up. Pain (whether it’s emotional, mental, or physical) is temporary, but quitting lasts forever. The only thing that counts is trying to be better than yesterday. Do a little every day, and one day you’ll look back and be doing something you once thought was impossible. Doing the thing you thought you couldn’t.

Sometimes it may seem like things can happen “to” us. Really though we can look back and realize they actually happened “through” us. Our stories can touch the people around us in ways we may never even know or imagine. So the next time you’re down, remember you never know who is watching, or who you may be inspiring. In the words of one of history’s smartest men…

“You never fail until you stop trying.” ~ Albert Einstein 

Blessings, Love & Music ~
Ava xo
www.avaaston.com