Reasons are not excuses and reasons are not necessarily right or wrong.

People who talk about excuses are very often using their

inability to really care about you or what you are talking about

as an excuse to shut you up or make themselves feel better

by making you feel worse.

I have been so disconnected from reality for so long that I

cannot separate the "excuse" lecturer in front of me today

from those of the past. They meld together into one big naysaying

mouth, all those voices producing a mumble of negativity.

Now, having said that, let me contradict myself a little.

I do believe that I have missed golden opportunities. I believe I missed

them out of ignorance and out of a lack of anyone I could

trust who could explain my options to me.

This doesn't mean that my excuse is that no one would help me.

It does mean that my reason for missing the oppotunities was

that I didn't know who I could trust or where to find them.

I'm still not sure, but I am learning to be more discerning

and, more importantly, I am learning to ask for help.

Then the burden of the reasons falls on those whom I ask for help.

Their excuses are very interesting...

and very similar.