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It's funny, the topic of this article is excuses and this has been one of my toughest entries to write so far. It has taken me the longest to write. Not that it's any longer than my previous articles, it's just that the subject matter hits home for me much more on a personal level. Of course, I made excuses for it, such as not having enough time, being too busy, writer's block, etc. I then realized I was making excuses for not writing an article on excuses! I had to explore the underlying truths I was attempting to avoid, because as you will read, excuses are masks for a truth we don't want to face. What I began to realize, was that my excuses for delaying this article boiled far deeper than merely writing an article, it was a revelation into why I put things off, why I procrastinate and what I was fearful of.

What are excuses?

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This is the third part in a series on managing stress. The first article gave you an overview on what stress is and the two different ways to decrease stress in your life. The second article looked more closely at the first way to decrease stress which is to lower stress input. It also defined what input is. In this third article on managing stress, I will discuss the second way of lowering stress in your life - that is to increase your stress capacity.

From the first two articles, we can conclude:

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This is the second part in a series on managing stress. The goal of this series is two-fold. The first is to give you a better understanding of what stress is and how it fits into your lives and secondly how you can use this understanding to better cope with the stresses in your life. Part one explained the first goal, so if you haven't already read the first part, then please read it first.

From the first article, we can up with some conclusions:

• For any given system (our body), input = stress = load = demand.
• For every input (stress), there is an equal amount of ouput (work).

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Stress - just thinking about this word causes much - well, stress. Stress is all around us. We feel it, both emotionally and physically. It causes much pain and anguish. We hear about it all the time, in the news, the health reports and from our doctors.

"Stress is bad for your health."
"Lower your stress and you will be healthy."
"Stress kills."

Makes sense. But what exactly is stress? Stress is not something we can hear, taste or smell. In fact, we often don't feel stress until it has turned into a serious physical ailment. There's so much talk about "stress", yet it is so hard to identify, to grasp, to understand. How helpful are people who tell us to lower our stress levels when they can't even explain what stress is?

...WHEN RICHES BEGIN TO COME THEY COME SO QUICKLY, IN SUCH GREAT ABUNDANCE, THAT ONE WONDERS WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN HIDING DURING ALL THOSE LEAN YEARS. This is an astounding statement, and all the more so, when we take into consideration the popular belief, that riches come only to those who work hard and long.

Napolean HIll, Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised

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Adversities, troubles and hardships seem to bother us all the time. We spend so much time thinking about our misfortunes and problems. They cause so much greif, pain and suffering that it's difficult not to. But what exactly are we thinking about? Do we really understand this concept of adversity - this idea of misfortune and obstacles? Have you ever took the time to question what an adversity really is? Whenever I feel stuck in a situation, I like to start all over. Assume everything I know is false. Requestion everything. I'd like to ask you to do the same. Let us take the time now to delve a little deeper into this query. Lets see if we can investigate and analyze what we mean when we talk about adversity, hardships, and obstacles.