Addiction is a very serious thing.
The Collins English Dictionary defines addiction as follows: the condition of being abnormally dependent on some habit.
I am publishing, for the first time ever, that I am an addict. I am taking the first step, with all of you as my witnesses, to end my addiction. I’m asking for the help of my friends, my family, and any other readers out there to join me in my well-overdue, virtual intervention.
I am addicted to excuses.
For the past 15 months, I have been living in France, and I don’t speak (much) French. And until now, I have been dependent on the habit of excuses, which have enabled me to continue my life in this way. Here are the tools I have been using to sell myself short:
- I work in English
- I don’t know enough grammar yet
- I don’t know enough vocabulary
- I don’t want to sound stupid
- I’m afraid of making mistakes
- I don’t want people to laugh at me when I speak
- I can’t express myself fully
And on, and on.
This is the moment where I am airing my dirty laundry, admitting my fault, and holding myself accountable to all of you.
I have reblogged something from Sojourning Abroad that has served as my wake-up call. You can read it, here. The video in this post has highlighted for me that my excuses, not my lack of knowledge, are the reasons I do not speak French yet, and has given me the sense to understand my next steps. Thanks in advance to everyone for helping to end my addiction to excuses. It’s time to come clean and speak French!
If you can, take the time to watch the video posted by Sojourning Abroad in this post. Maybe you, too, can find the motivation to learn another language!
The Perpetual Passenger 
Hi Nikki, (waves). I’m an addict too. My excuses are making it hard for me to live a “real” life in Paris. We should hang out.
We should! We can help each other through our addiction… and then vent about our trials and errors in English 😉
Moi en tout cas je trouve que tu t exprimes très bien! Bisous
Ahhhh tu es mignon 😉 Merci et bisous à toi!
Since living in Germany, I’ve found that learning to speak the language has been one of the most humbling things I’ve ever done. But the rewards are so huge, both culturally and personally! I’ve also learned that sometimes in life it’s important to give up on my perfectionist tendencies and just dive right in, head first. It’ll pay off, I promise!
You are so right! Perfectionist tendencies are not helpful in our cases. Time to just take the plunge!!! 🙂
I have reblogged something from Sojourning Abroad that has served as my wake-up call. You can read it, here . The video in this post has highlighted for me that my excuses, not my lack of knowledge, are the reasons I do not speak French yet, and has given me the sense to understand my next steps. Thanks in advance to everyone for helping to end my addiction to excuses. It’s time to come clean and speak French!