The 21-year-old swimmer represented Equatorial Guinea in Sydney Olympics and competed in 100-meter freestyle.

He didn’t win a medal, but he does have heart.

Moussambani made it to Olympics only because of a special program for developing countries.

He competed in last preliminary heat and was only swimmer in pool. Two other swimmers were disqualified for false starts.

For most Olympic swimmers, this would hardly be a big deal. However, Moussambani had never seen, much less swam in, an Olympic-sized pool.

All Equatorial Guinea could offer him was a small hotel pool that he could use only when guests were not in it.

By Pauline Wallin, Ph.D Author of "Taming Your Inner Brat: A Guide for Transforming Self-defeating Behavior"

Word count: 757 Copyright Pauline Wallin, Ph.D. 2004. All rights reserved

Which of following "explanations" have you heard (or used!) in past few weeks?

* I need to reward myself for being so good.

* The boss hates me.

* It's been too hot (too cold, too rainy) to exercise

* Of course I have problems. I'm a middle child.

* It was alcohol talking.

It's pretty obvious that above "explanations" are basically excuses for avoiding responsibility. Your “inner brat” uses such excuses to justify overeating, underachievement and saying hurtful things.

Next look at following. They almost seem like plausible explanations:

* Sorry I'm late again. There was a lot of traffic.

* I haven't had a chance to call her back. It's been crazy around here.

* I never went to college because my parents didn't encourage me.

* I didn't want to hurt your feelings.

* I can't seem to get things done because of my ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

But these, too, are still excuses, not explanations. If you examine above statements more closely, you will find that they are not entirely explanatory, and are easily challenged. For example:

* Being chronically late is not caused by traffic; it's caused by not leaving enough time for travel.

* If a phone call is important enough, a person will almost always find time.

* Lack of parental encouragement may have some influence on one's life, but eventually we all have choices to make about investing our time and energy.

* Most of time people avoid confrontation not to protect someone else's feelings, but to protect their own.

* People with ADHD need to work harder to stay focused but this does not mean they cannot complete their tasks.

A true explanation shows a cause-and-effect relationship: Situation X caused Consequence Y. Excuses masquerade as explanations, but are really distortions of truth. Excuses include following elements:

1. They usually blame other people or external circumstances -- e.g., "I hit him because he made me mad," or "You're too sensitive," or "It was just my bad luck."