justified.

Every bboy has a name.

A bboy name.

A list of some of my friends would look something like this :

achilles

tytrain

sloth

nomad

nateruto

undertaker

bumblebee

txt

bangkok

and while living at the slate house, I got the nickname "justified".

Sloth gave me the name because of my (perhaps a little over the top) interest in Justin Timberlake. His first solo album is titled Justified. The nickname fit and I've used it at pretty much every battle I've entered.

While at lunch with a friend of mine the name came up and another meaning was added. She acknowledged my ability to justify many of my actions and said it was a skill that suits me well for entering the field of PR.

An unintentional backhanded compliment?

The thesaurus informed me that synonyms for "justify" include the following :

excuse

explain

rationalize

pardon

exonerate

Watching General Conference left a bad taste in my mouth for the word "rationalize".

Is this the legacy I want to leave behind?

That I was capable of justifying any of my actions.

No.

I'm quite good at it however, and as a result it comes naturally.

But it's time for it to end. It is time for me to begin living my life so that there is no need to justify or rationalize.

I'm keeping the nickname though -- because I'm still an overeager fan of Mr. Timberlake.