No excuses.

IF THERE'S SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO, YOU WILL FIND A WAY.

IF THERE'S SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANT TO DO, YOU WILL FIND AN EXCUSE.

I have a friend named  Billal. I met him about 14 yrs ago in Silver Spring Maryland. He moved back to Iran because his father was dying and he needed to take care of his mom.  I haven't seen him in 7 years. He has 4 sons. The oldest one 9, is autistic. The second child, 6, is developmentally disabled. The third child, 4, has Stargardt's Disease- an inherited eye disease that causes blindness. His wife had a stroke during the birth of their 4th child, now 2 yrs old. While the child seems to be okay, his wife, as a result of the stroke, doesn't have the use of her left arm or her left leg. She's wheelchair-bound and her speech is slurred.  Billal was a lawyer here in the States. Back in Iran, he does construction and teaches law at a university.
Despite all of his hardships, a month has not gone by that he has not called to see how I am doing. I'm speechless because I don't know how he copes with all  he has to deal with, and yet he calls me once a month, and we talk about 15 or 20 minutes and catch up. And when I text him,  more than 24 hours will not pass before he responds. He's been consistent the entire time.

IF THERE'S SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO, YOU WILL FIND A WAY. 
IF THERE'S SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANT TO DO, YOU WILL FIND AN EXCUSE.
I hear more from him than my 'friends' who live  within 10 miles of me, whose lives are boring in comparison to my friend Billal. And yet these friends always have an excuse  as to why months and years can go by before they remember they haven't called me back.

So, when I hear an excuse, I think of this quote, and my friend Billal;

IF THERE'S SOMETHING YOU WANT TO DO, YOU WILL FIND A WAY.
IF THERE'S SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANT TO DO, YOU WILL FIND AN EXCUSE