When you’re invited to go out for drinks after work and you decline because you have to finish a report.
When you can’t join friends after school because you have to do a book report.
When you can’t watch the ball game because you have to go to your in-laws.
When you can’t sleep in because you have to catch a plane.
The list of things you’d like to do but cannot because of things you have to do is almost endless. You have to get the oil changed in the car. You have to pick the kids up from school. You have to go to the doctor or dentist. You have to go to work.
There are things you do, that may not even involve options, that you still feel like you “have to” do. These include things like you have to pay your mortgage or rent. You have to pay your auto insurance. You have to pay taxes.
In addition to things, you feel like you have to pay, you likely have duties you feel like you “have to” complete. For example, you may feel like you have to cook dinner. You have to wash dishes. You have to mow the lawn. You have to wash the car. You have to do laundry and you have to put your clothes away.
I encourage you to think about what you say when it comes to what you have on your to-do list. I believe you have a lot of “have to” items, if not all of them.
When you think about every “have to” do item on your to-do list, each one seems like drudgery. Every task you “have to” do seems like an obligation, something you’d rather not be doing. When your day is filled with things you “have to” do, life becomes a grind.
It’s individuals that spend day after day, grinding through their “have to” do lists that count the days to retirement. They count the days to when the kids will be grown and living on their own.
Life doesn’t have to be a grind. You can enjoy performing the tasks on your to-do list. In fact, you can actually feel honored to do them! You simply have to change the way you look at the things you “have to” do each day. It is simple to do, just not easy. At least not in the beginning as you change your habit. You must change the way you think about what you are doing.
With conscious effort and repetition, you can change the way you think about things. You must shift your thinking from “have to” to “get to.”
Instead of thinking, I “have to” pick up the kids from school, say I “get to” pick up the kids from school. As you say out loud you “get to” pick them up, think about how blessed you are to have children. There are so many people that desire to have children that cannot. Think about how blessed you and your children are to have schooling! There are children in this world that do not have the ability to attend school.
Regardless of what you have been thinking about every time you say you “have to” do something, all you have to do is think about the blessings associated with each task, each responsibility, and you will become grateful. You will see the blessings. You will begin to look forward to every “get to” opportunity you have!
When you “get to” service the car, you recognize how blessed you are to have one! There are more people in this world without a vehicle than ones that own one. You are blessed.
When you “get to” wash dishes or clothes, you know you are blessed to have food and clothing.
When you ‘get to” work late on a project at work, or “get to” stay home and finish a school project, you realize the blessings that come with being trusted with responsibility and the opportunity to display your knowledge and skills.
When you ‘get to” go to the doctor or dentist; when you “get to” have surgery or a root canal, you blessed to live in a country that has qualified personnel to take care of you. You are blessed to have insurance or blessed to be treated even if you don’t have insurance or blessed to have the resources to pay for your treatment. When you “get to” have surgery, you are blessed to have something repaired, where others would continue to be in pain or possibly die. When you get to have a root canal, you are blessed to keep a tooth, where others will live in pain or have the tooth pulled.
The quickest way to change your thinking from “have to” to “get to” is to recognize all your blessings. This recognition comes from an attitude of gratitude. When you are grateful you “get to” do many things.
Remember, there is greatness within you. You must choose greatness. It won’t develop on its own. I believe in you!
“When you change the way you think about things, the things you think about change.”
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Published by Bryan M. Balch, Results Coach
Helping Individuals and Businesses Achieve Desired Results
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