Excuses....

My first day of 8th grade, Mr. Grant, my Social Studies teacher told us that we had to memorize a poem. He handed each of us a sheet of paper with a poem titled "Excuses".

He advised us that this was the poem we had to say in front of the whole class if we did not complete our homework assignment, a project or ever had an excuse to make.

This is the only thing I remember from 8th grade and this poem has stuck with me. But really only for me to tell other people why excuses suck for them.

If anyone makes an excuse, I always bust out this poem. Believe me, it is a little annoying but my sisters can recite it too, haha.

I am sure you are dying to know what the poem is, so here goes:

"Excuses are the tools of the incompetent
Used to build castles of nothingness
Those who excel in excuses
Never excel in anything but excuses
So I promise never to indulge in excuses"

I had to say this poem in front of my whole class in 8th grade because I failed to do my homework. I was a bad-ass even then.

I will tell you that I never said that poem in front of my class again. It was embarrassing and I refused to suffer that feeling once more. It was way more embarrassing than what my Spanish teacher made us do. If we were caught with gum we had to put it on our nose. That to me wasn't embarrassing, it was actually kinda funny!

This morning, I was ready to make an excuse not to do something and the hubster was quick to advise me why that was not OK. He said, "Hey, what's that poem again?" If it was possible for me to turn red, I would have.

Let's just say I am doing that chore today, haha.

So if you ever want to make an excuse, picture yourself in front of a big crowd. With everyone knowing why you stand before them. And then picture yourself saying the poem, with your head hanging low and your face hot as fire.

Chances are, that excuse will go just where it belongs.

And that my friends is the lesson for today. Excuses suck.