Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Kudos

It’s so incredibly easy to come up with excuses. I’m too tired. I’ll do it later. I have other things to take care of first. No matter what it is that we’re excusing, most of us are masters at rationalizing why we can’t do certain things.

For me, it’s usually writing. I’ll get to my book manuscript after I vacuum or reorganize those pesky scrapbooking supplies. Sometimes it’s exercise. Sometimes it’s big life changes like buying a condo.

But this post isn’t about me and my excuses. It’s about people around me who don’t buy into the flimsy justifications. These people forge ahead. And I am so impressed by all of them.

My friend, D, is a medical assistant, wife and mother. The girl works her butt off. And despite the fact she doesn't have much support around her, she decided to go to surgical tech school. Does she have the time for this? No way. She has a 20-month old baby running circles around her. Does she have cushy finances at the ready to pay for her schooling and support her when she has a full-time internship? Nope. But she’s still juggling everything. And she’s kicking ass. Not only does she manage to balance a career and a family, she has consistently scored 98-100% on the tests she’s taken. I think that’s pretty freaking amazing.

My other friend, J, is 7 months pregnant. Now, I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that “bun-in-the-oven” and “I’m-too-tired” go hand-in-hand. Those two phrases were made for one another. I don’t think there is a better excuse for sleeping in, laying on the couch or going to bed at 8:00. But not for J. No, J is still running 30 miles a week. Granted, she has to keep her heart rate down while she’s doing it. But she’s doing it. When I had dinner with her tonight, she actually giggled about doing a 14-miler recently. I’ve NEVER done a 14-miler. And I sure ain’t doin’ one when I’m pregnant! She is a goddess.

Sunday, Mr. Wonderful and his roommate had me and a couple other people come over to help them paint their house. Not like one room. The outside. Of the entire house. I’ve never actually met anyone who painted their own house. I didn’t even know that regular people could paint their own houses. Well, perhaps regular people can’t. But ass-kicking people like Mr. W can. We masked the trim and windows in the morning, and by 7:30 in the evening, the boys had sprayed the entire exterior. And it looks great. They are awesome.

As much as I wish I was as impressive as the people around me, it’s kind of nice to tell their stories instead of my own. I feel so lucky to have them spreading inspiration throughout my life. And truthfully, it’s more fun…because they’re doing the hard work and I can use their much-deserved commendations as an excuse to not work on my book…

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

damn overachievers....don't you secretly hate them?? :)

Jenn Martinson said...

I bet if they all had blogs, they'd be saying the some fabulous things about the ways you impress them, too!

Anonymous said...

I think just reading this post made me out of breath...

Diz said...

You are right Coconut Diaries, if I had a blog I WOULD be telling everyone how completely fabulous Mel Heth is, and how she is one of the huge reasons I began and continue to feel confident about the journey I'm on right now. Love you cupcake!

Anonymous said...

I'm totally lazy. It's so funny that you posted this, because just last night Rob (my hubbo) observed that McCain, Obama, G-dub, and Gore were all left handed. I said, "Yes. We left-handers are extraordinarily smart and creative." And then I realized that I'm kind of less of an achiever than my left-handed compadres are. Ha.

Melissa Maris said...

Laura - Totally.

CoconutDiaries - I dunno, my greatest accomplishment right now may be going for 36 months without scrubbing my shower tile (not really, it's only been 34 months).

Geekhiker - Seriously! All these hard workers! They're exhausting.

Diz - Oh stop it, you make me blush.

Lara - You're a crack up. And I don't think you're lazy!

L said...

I know just what you mean. People are freaking amazing.

Anonymous said...

I was just lamenting to Mr. Dingo that some people seem to be able to do it all and I can't even do 1/3. It was whine, whine, whine. And leave it to Mr. Dingo, he made me feel better. Because all those people who seem to be soo busy yet can keep it all together? Liars. Yep, L.I.A.R.S. I don't think that's true but it's what I'm choosing to believe right now.

You, however, are awesome! That's no lie!

Sosiesmama721 said...

Geez....makes me feel guilty for not running as much as I should, or not calling my friend back from Monday night. It's incredible - some people just have and some don't. I definitely don't.

Anonymous said...

you know, there are some people who are just do'ers. There are other people who are relaxers. And then there's me... you ever watch the Muppet Show? Yeah, I'm like either Statler or Waldorf. I like to sit on the side and make snarky comments ;) We all have a place in the world!

Bretthead said...

You have the rare skill of moving back and forth between totally cool and total geekdom at will. Sometimes multiple times within one blog.

I hope those pesky scrapbooking supplies are well organized.

Regular people are over-rated.

Melissa Maris said...

l or is it I - I'm so curious to know your identity!

Dingo - You're a crack up. Maybe everyone is lying! That would be awesome. Although I saw Mr. W paint his house with my own two eyes...unless he had a secret crew working on the other side of the house I didn't know about...

Semichrmd - I hear ya!! At least you have a really long commute to use as an excuse. I got nothin'.

Doug - Thanks for stopping by! We need the snarky comments - it helps us underachievers feel better! ;)

Wow TWA - I call that "moving back and forth" personal perfection. I think you, being a geek yourself, would be greatly disappointed if I didn't waffle between the two. And yes, the scrapbooking supplies are now very well organized.