TheNiceLife.com Blog: Accountability: That B*tch Called Me Out!

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TheNiceLife.com Blog: Accountability: That B*tch Called Me Out!

Accountability: That B*tch Called Me Out!

Every excuse I ever heard made perfect sense to the person who made it. ~ Dr. Daniel T. Trubin

Oh, no she dit int.

I know that b*tch ain't gon' call ME out!

Working in the restaurant business creates a special type of bond with fellow restaurant workers. Bartenders and servers from east coast to west coast "understand" each other. We know what it's like to be in the trenches, dealing with customers who are feeling "VIP" for the night — who expect their food and drinks to be fit for a King or Queen.

We know what it's like to smile and say, "Yes Ma'am, I understand. I prefer my sandwiches to be cut in triangles — not squares — as well. Let's get that fixed for you."

Okay, so I'm still not very good at dealing with that. I'm more of the type to say, "Come on, Miss Kardashian, you do realize that one in five American children go to bed hungry every night, and you're complaining about how your sandwich is cut?" And then I'll proceed to make them feel guilty until they're throwing money at me, trying to win back my approval.

Hee hee hee. Evil laugh.

Nevertheless, folks who work in the service industry have an unspoken respect for one another. After their shift, they'll come to your bar for their own after-work drink. They never complain and they always tip well, understanding what you're going through.

I often frequent the Applebee's up the street from my place of employment. Over time, I've become acquainted with most of the "Apples" (as they refer to themselves) who work there. A few of them have read my books; others visit my website and sport my TheNiceLife.com gear. Some have incorporated the books' content into their lives — especially the "30-day challenge."

One of the girls calls me "Jesus" and felt compelled to text me saying, "Forgive me Jesus, for I have sinned," proceeding to confess that she had failed in her own 30-day "no alcohol" challenge.

I forgave her transgression and told her to move forward and "sin no more."

Cuz like, that's what Jesus would do.

You can always find me in the middle of a 30-day challenge. I often revert back to the 30-day "no meat, no alcohol, and only water" challenge when I choose to have a really productive month. I'll complete this challenge about once every three or four months.

And this is one of those months. The last "full month" I completed was September. In December, however, I gave myself the "freedom" to drink if I was actually at a Redskins game. I ended up attending three Redskins games in December, so I got my drink on. Then I had two personal tragedies take place within a week of each other, so I just decided to scrap the month of December and do it in January.

I shouldn't have given myself the "free pass" to drink during Redskins games. I've always been an "all-or-nothing" kind of guy. Either the challenge is completed in full — or the challenge was a failure.

And I don't tend to fail, when it comes to making conscious decisions. So since I drank at the Redskins games, I didn't really feel like a champion for December's challenge. I felt like I was cheating the system.

Well, here we are in January. Things are running smoothly; I'm banging out new blogs every weekday. I'm doing a lot of "behind the scenes" work on my website, making it easier to find in search engines. In short, I'm having a productive January.

And then my BFF wants to have a "boys night out," where we watch the College Football National Championship. My beloved Alabama Crimson Tide is set to duke it out with LSU. He's all like, "Yo man. You need to drink. I won't tell anybody." I wrestled with the idea all day, and made the following rationalization: Hey self, this is the National Championship. Bama is playing. How often does this happen? You deserve to live it up. Drink a few beers.

At this point, I could've easily had "boys night out," slammed a few beers, and watched my Crimson Tide destroy LSU.

However, Chapter 10 of my book FTWR is entitled "Accountability," and I tend to practice what I preach, yo. So I posted the following on my Facebook Wall:

Brandon: Accountability Note: I've made a conscious decision to drink beer while watching my Alabama Crimson Tide destroy LSU. Please don't judge me. Look for us in the West End. =)

Christina: No judging. Just acknowledging that some challenges are too difficult for some humans to accomplish.

Bad Influence BFF: Nice! Sometimes bad decisions can be good decisions!

Brandon: Wow, Christina. You little jerk, you. I've been wrestling with this decision all day long.

Christina: I wanted to smoke the other day because I was with my bff gossiping outside and it was nice out, my very favorite time to smoke, but I can't stand failing so I didnt. It's ok Brandon we're just different I guess.

Brandon: Hahahahahaha. You so funny, X-Tina. Me and my BFF haven't had a date since the Redskins vs. Cowboys game, and he keeps telling me I won't be any fun if I don't drink. Plus, I've already accomplished this 30-day challenge plenty of times. Alabama is in the National Championship! But you're right; I'm a failure and a loser if I succumb to BFF's peer pressure. Hmmmm.

Christina: Mmhmm. Do you boo, I was just saying...

After giving it serious thought, I knew I couldn't follow through with drinking. I knew I had to be the example. For if I lead my sheep astray, whom will they follow to the mountaintop?

I proceeded to put on my big boy britches, resist the peer pressure, and post the following:

Behold: After being called out by Christina, I've elected to NOT drink beer as I watch my Alabama Crimson Tide destroy LSU. Cuz if I start making exceptions, my beloved Disciples will feel they can too. ;]

The sh*t even rhymed, yo. That means it must've been inspired by My Father, who art in Heaven.

But on the for reals, yo ... I wanna thank Christina for holding me accountable. We all need people in our lives to hold us accountable. It's easy to make excuses; all excuses seem reasonable when we're making them.

Keep this example in mind as you move through your own New Year's Resolutions. And remember: Brandon resisted the ultimate peer pressure — so I can too. =)

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