Some explanations are regarded as "good excuses," while others are looked upon as "poor excuses." Either way, they both give explanations, or reasons why.

"I forgot" is perhaps the most popular and even thought by some to be the worst excuse of all time. Next in line comes, "I changed my mind."

On the other hand, if you were snowed in for two days due to a blizzard, that would rank pretty high as a "good excuse" for not making it in to work, right?

But what about excuses people have concerning their goals and their dreams? What about places you'd like to go in life, things you want to do, things you'd like to accomplish, but somewhere along the line you came up with some good explanations of why you can't have those things? Are they really "good excuses?"

Suppose you had dreams and aspirations of running a marathon, climbing a mountain, or even jumping out of a plane? Those are really exciting goals and dreams, but what if you were blind? Being blind would be a pretty "good excuse," wouldn't it?

Have you ever heard of Erik Weihenmayer? He went blind at age 13. Erik has run in marathons, jumped out of planes, and climbed mountains, including Mt. Everest! Here's quote from Erik:

"When I went blind, it was tough to even find the bathroom. Now that I've climbed Mount Everest, well, I guess I've come a long way."

On May 25, 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind man in history to reach the summit of the world's highest peak - Mount Everest. And on September 5, 2002, when he stood on top of Mt. Kosciusko in Australia, Erik had completed his 7-year goal to climb The Seven Summits - the highest mountains on each of the seven continents.

I know from my reading that only 100 mountaineers have ever accomplished that feat. Erik did it at the age 33, one of the youngest climbers to accomplish that feat! You can read Erik's book, called, Touch the Top of the World.

So, are your dreams, goals and desires too big? I don't think so.

There's a promise in the Bible that God will give you the desires of your heart. What are your desires? God will give them to you! Now, that doesn't mean that you will just wake up some morning at the top of Mt. Everest, and wonder how you got there!

But, in pursuing your desires and goals, God can help you. He can show you, lead you, direct you, and give you the desires of your heart.

So don't be afraid to have big goals, and big dreams! Ask God for help and direction and then start pursuing!

Is there someone you can talk to? Do you need further education or training? Are there places you need to go to see and learn?

In other words, start taking whatever action you can right now, today! And continue to pursue after it day after day, refusing to quit.

You can choose to consistently pursue after you goals or you can choose to just sit back and go through all the "good excuses" of why those goals just won't happen for you.

It's been said many times that the greatest reward is not in reaching your goal, but who you become along the way in reaching your goal. Erik now gets to talk to thousands of people about what it's like to work and reach your goals.

I read that when he was climbing Mt. Everest, that just minutes from being on the top of the world, Erik started to cry – but those tears were freezing on his face, so he had to stop crying for a few more minutes until he was indeed standing on the top of the world!

Your dreams and your desires are important because they are yours! God wants to help you and give you the desires of your heart.

Stop making excuses and start pursuing your dreams!

Michael A. Verdicchio
http://www.christianinspirationalgifts.com/pepletter.htm