What’s Your Excuse?

The holidays are understandably a stressful time. There never seems to be enough hours in the day or money in the bank to accomplish everything we want to. I was talking to a friend who owns a bakery in town and she said that this year people seemed especially nasty. Mary O’Keefe agreed, noting that the staff was rather rude at one of her most favorite department stores where she typically can find refuge from the abrasiveness of the holiday madness.

I wonder what the reason – or should I say excuse – is for the distasteful behavior.

Those two words – reason and excuse – are often interchanged when they shouldn’t be. For example, per Webster’s Dictionary, reason is the result of an action, fact, event, etc. (“I couldn’t come because I was sick at home”). Virtually you didn’t have a choice in the matter.

Compare this to when you don’t want to attend some function so you manufacture an excuse; you have a lot more control that can be wielded in this circumstance.

You may be wondering why I’m laboring over these two definitions. It may be obvious; as I sit with a bloated tummy and tight pants from overindulging in all the wonders of the holiday season, I look to the new year anticipating what it’s going to take to get this additional poundage off my rapidly expanding frame.

And I’m not alone in my condition. There’s a reason why the new year is a time when fitness facilities are so crowded and new memberships soar. Many of us are blessed with friends who are generous in their expressions of love and support. Often these come in the form of home baked goods (yum) or the always welcome, my personal favorite, See’s Candies.

(Side note – my relationship with See’s goes back to the days in junior high school when you could buy a bag of lollipops for about $5 if memory serves me right. We would resell them for 10 cents each hefting a tidy profit. Unfortunately, the junior high administration frowned upon the practice and we stopped.)

So as we round the corner of the holidays for 2013 and welcome 2014 with open (albeit chubby) arms, I plan on making no excuses and hope there’s no reason why I can’t don my walking shoes and take to the streets in the new year.

Maybe I’ll see you out there, too!

Happy New Year and blessings and prosperity to you and your family. Thank you for reading the Crescenta Valley Weekly.

  robin goldsworthy