Excuses...

I posted on Facebook today for anyone to comment and throw me a topic to write about. And so it begins...

First of all, for those of you who don't know Peter Lopez, he is friend and fellow author.
He has an amazing book called, "Excuses, Excuses, Which One is Yours?" I highly recommend adding it to your read list today.
He's great at marketing, consistent branding, and all there is to know about publishing books. Mainly, all the things I wish I was better at but don't take the time to focus on because...oh wait, here comes an excuse.

When I first read "Excuses, Excuses: Which One is Yours?" it was in Florida during a life group at a church we attended with Peter and his wife, Sorines. People had excuses in all shapes and sizes and they joined the life group to go through the book and apply ways to overcome those excuses that were holding them back from reaching their goals. 
My excuse I wrote down for that class sadly remains the same, "There are areas that I am afraid to step out in faith, the biggest of those being writing, not because I think that I'll fall but because I believe that God will do something so incredibly amazing. That is my 'super lame excuse'. 
You might read that and think, "That's a weird excuse." I got tears in my eyes just writing it again because it is that real and that terrifying to me. The ironic thing is that after I shared that excuse I was pushed into working with other authors through ghostwriting and developmental editing. I loved it. The authors enjoyed working with me, everything was going well until my self-doubt got the best of me and I shied away from writing once again.
Here I am today, back into helping other authors achieve their dreams. Things are going well and that self-doubt is once again clawing at the back of my mind. So what's going to keep me from retreating to my corner and shying away? God!
God didn't create me to shy away, He created me with a boldness to create and inspire others. My boldness and creativity often make me feel like the oddball out so I tend to back down. But...with this challenge today to write about excuses (thank you, Peter) it has ignited a new flame. 
In the words of Johnny Cash, "No, I won't back down!"

God, you want to do something super incredibly awesome with my life? You want to write a story upon me that has others saying, "What in the world? How in the world?"?

Go for it! No more excuses!

My prayer today is that whomever takes the time to read this blog would take a moment to evaluate the excuses in their own life. Not just the simple excuses but the deep 'going to take some time to sort through' excuses. The ones that are hindering them from embracing all that you created them to be. 

You read about my excuses, now it's time to be real, what's yours?