There are a million excuses we could make for our character flaws: our sloth, greed, envy, lust, gluttony, wrath, pride, and all the other (deadly) sins that aren’t enumerated. 

Of course I’m lazy: I have a bum knee. I’m not going to do any more than I have to.

Am I greedy? Don’t I deserve more because of how hard I’ve worked and how much time I’ve put in? God forbid I want a little extra indulgence.

I have reason to be envious: He has way more than I do and he has never worked nearly as hard as I have. He was born into; he doesn’t deserve it—I do!

Well of course I’m lustful, look at the internet and all of the sexualized content that’s shoved down my throat! I’m just a person with urges, why should I fight them?

Gluttonous? Yes, we live in a hyper-consumerist culture. We’re all taking more than we need. Am I supposed to be a monk or something?

Yeah, I’m angry. We live in a world in which the evil rule over us and don’t face justice while those who work the hardest receive nothing and the best of us die young. I have a right to be angry.

Is it really a sin to be prideful about what I have and what I’ve done? I’m not arrogant, but I’m a little smarter and I work way harder than those around me. Why not take pride in that and exact what I deserve out of the world? Isn’t that fair?

There are of course many legitimate points and concerns in these statements, but they’re still excuses to serve the self, often at the cost of others. 

You don’t have to be lazy because your body can’t keep up with your mind. You can still be physically and mentally active despite your disability. More generally, it’s easy in our day and age to do nothing in the face of the overwhelming possibilities bestowed to us by the internet. I’ve faced this myself: How on earth can I decide what to do in a matrix of effectively infinite potential choices? The answer I’ve found for myself is to hone in a few things that interest me and focus on those rather than allow myself to be perpetually overwhelmed.

Greed is commonplace and can be hard to identify and eliminate. I believe that a little extra is okay, but never at the cost of others. Personally, I want to be smart, frugal, and work hard to make a few million dollars over the course of my life. Do I need all of this? No, but what’s my motivation? Am I going to buy a Ferrari and designer clothes to flex on the haters? No, I’m not a child. I want financial freedom so that I’m not constantly stressed and will never have to worry about providing for my family. Yes, I want to be able to travel at some point in my life without wiping through my savings. This is more than I need, but is it unreasonable to want it? I don’t believe so.

Gluttony, in my view, is a little clearer. Did you know that 40% of all food in America is wasted? [https://www.rts.com/resources/guides/food-waste-america/]

There are reasons for this, but a large factor is gluttony. We buy more than we need and throw away anything that isn’t perfect. My family experiences this once in a while: We’ll get raw milk that typically lasts less than a week, not drink it all, and have to toss up to half a container. This is not what’s happening.

More topically, we overindulge and serve ourselves to a concerning degree. Most people, especially young people, are addicted to their phones and are CONSTANTLY looking at them. This is gluttony. 

We play more video games than we should (I’m very guilty of this one), watch more entertainment than is healthy, buy a lot of things we don’t need and never use, and give far less than we should to those around us in terms of attention and resources.

Envy is understandable, but not healthy. Envy has been greatly potentiated by the internet—especially social media. People are constantly comparing themselves to friends or strangers on the internet. You don’t know what these people’s lives are really like. You may not want to be like them as much as you think you do. In any case, take a break. Improve your life and focus on making it better than it was a day, a week, a month, or a year ago. If you want to take inspiration and motivation from other people:  great! But do not compare yourself to them as if they’re your arch-nemesis and be(at)ing them is your goal.

It’s especially bitter to see someone undeserving moving up and making more, even at the cost of other people. You see this all the time in the corporate world. Lazy, ignorant, stupid people routinely move above the people who do all of the work. Unfortunately, life isn’t fair, but envying these people isn’t a solution. After all, why envy someone who’s lazy, ignorant, and stupid?

Lust is a simple one. It’s everywhere, but we have to find ways to hold ourselves back and not cross any lines we don’t want to cross. For some, this is easy. For most, this is not. We live in a culture that glorifies sex and lust (NOT LOVE!). I find this quite sad, but it’s something we all need to contend with. After all, sex sells and it corrupts people. This is why it’s so heavily emphasized by the media. We are, after all, primal creatures in some sense: One of our strongest desires is to procreate. This is obviously a necessary desire, but it can so quickly become perverse. We need sex and we need love. We do not need lust.

Wrath, wrath, wrath. I have mixed feelings about wrath.

On the unsavory side, I grew up with an angry family and have witnessed no shortage of yelling and unhappiness. Wrath is a caustic and destructive force. It can be easily manipulated and weaponized to carry out horrible deeds.

But it’s not all bad. There’s a reason that humans have negative emotions, including anger. Wrath is powerful and can empower us to do things that we need to do in certain select situations. If you can control wrath, you can channel that power to push your body and mind further beyond what you might otherwise be capable of. But, you’re playing with fire. In a blink of an eye, that wrath will turn around and control you.

In the Bible, God exerted wrath in certain specific instances. In some passages, it’s characterized as a holy wrath. (Think of Jesus overturning the tables of merchants in the temple and casting them out and God destroying godless/unholy cities in the Old Testament.) This indicates that in the Judeo-Christian way of thinking, wrath can be necessary or even holy…but be careful. Don’t make excuses in order to afflict your anger on others.

Pride is a different beast, and there are complicated reasons as to why it’s thought of by some to be the deadliest of the seven deadly sins. I’ll keep it brief: Don’t use your self as an excuse to do anything you shouldn’t do. The self will consume and break down anything that gets in its way, at whatever cost, unless it’s kept under close watch and an iron fist. Do what’s right—not what’s easy, feels good, or serves your self.

A lot of times it can feel too late, or it can be too late to turn things around. This is not an excuse to neglect a proper course of action, whether to redirect the trajectory of your actions or to make amends for past mistakes. 

Let me ask you this: if you’ve been doing something (knowingly or unknowingly) wrong for seventy years and you’ve only got probably ten years of life left, should you continue doing it? Or, should you instead modify your behavior to do what’s right, or at least try?

Don’t be set in your ways, especially if they’re wrong or aren’t working for you. No matter how old you are or how far you’ve come, reject and discard that which does not serve you or others. If it’s wrong, it’s never too late to renounce it and begin doing what’s right, even if it’s not obvious or easy what “right” is.

This can be generalized to any domain. If you’re a murderer and you’ve taken the lives of many innocents, it’s better that you stop killing even if you can never make amends. It’s certainly better than continuing to kill people because you tell yourself “I’m too far gone,” or “it’s too late.” That’s a weak excuse for doing what you know to be wrong.

In a less life-or-death example, pick up the sport you always wanted to play but have talked yourself out of. “I’m too old,” “it’s too late in the season,” “I’m not in shape.”

You always wanted to learn how to swing dance, but “I’m too embarrassed,” “I don’t have rhythm,” “I don’t know anybody there.”

You want to learn an instrument but, “I don’t have any talent,” “I can’t read music,” “I’m too old to make anything out of it.”

But you want to play that sport, you want to learn swing dancing, and you want to learn an instrument. You and your weak excuses are the only thing stopping you.

You’re old, but there’s a seniors league, so that’s not a real excuse. It’s too late in the season now, but you can wait until the next season—you’ll probably still be alive. You’re not in shape, but you can start walking more and eating healthier. You now have a few months until the next season begins: That’s enough time to get in shape.

I understand being embarrassed at dancing in front of a bunch of strangers, but most everyone is in the same boat and people aren’t going to laugh at you as much as you think (probably not at all). You have to put in some work and be prepared to fail at the beginning. Rhythm can be learned, and you’ll meet people there.

I taught drums for a few years, mostly to kids below the age of 12. Some of them picked up the instrument pretty quickly, and for some it took longer. You know what? After taking the time and effort to practice, they all improved. Saying “I don’t have talent” is a ridiculous excuse. I don’t have any particular talent for drums either, but I’ve put in thousands of hours of hard work and I became competent. I’ll never be the best drummer in the world, but I was interested in the instrument, I committed myself, and I got to where I wanted to be.

If only the people who had “talent” did the things that they were good at, practically nobody would do anything. Are you “talented” at your job? Are you “talented” at raising your kids? Are you “talented” at making and maintaining friendships? The odds are: NO! You had to learn to do these things, talented or not, so you put in the time and effort until you perform competently. It’s no different for a musical instrument or any other hobby. You can learn to read music pretty quickly. It takes practice. You’re never too old to pursue something that you’re interested in. As long as there’s breath in your lungs, you can work towards a goal.

I will acknowledge that there are some very reasonable and valid reasons or excuses for not doing some things. Not all excuses are your brain stopping you from doing what you want or should be doing…but most are.