My husband told me enthusiastically the other day that he’d had an epiphany! “Right”, I said with a long emphasis on the i – mixed with a tiny tad of cynicism and sarcasm, but primarily with interest in his rather profound statement.
He’d been listening to a webinar where the woman hosting it said, instead of saying to yourself ‘I have to ………….’, why not say ‘I get to……………’.
Now here’s a man, my husband, who’s been passionately studying and applying all manner of spiritual and personal development teachings and philosophies ever since I’ve known him, which is around thirty years. He meditates, practices mindfulness and gratitude for all he has and for what’s still to come, yet this one simple phrase had a big effect on him.
He went on to tell me that despite his ongoing daily positive, healthy practices, he still found himself thinking at times, ‘I’ve got to go do ………….’, when, he says he then thinks, ‘but I’d rather be doing……….’. As he tends to be a bit of a study-aholic and work-aholic, he says he sometimes feels a bit peeved that he ‘has to’ go do the grocery shopping, mow the lawns, do the vacuuming etc, even though he rather enjoys those things once he gets into them.
I see this insight of his as another great example of Mindfulness in action. He’s noticed that his attitude towards so-called chores isn’t serving him well, so now he’s walking around the house saying, ‘wow, I get to mow the lawn, I get to go grocery shopping, I get to wash the car etc’ and his concept and practice of gratitude has increased dramatically. He’s more acutely aware and grateful that he actually has a lawn to mow, has the privilege and ability (and money) to go grocery shopping, has a car, has a home that he gets to take care of.
So next time you find yourself feeling a bit (or a lot) annoyed that you ‘have to’ do something, try changing your self talk to ‘I get to do………….’ and see how different it feels.
True gratitude for every situation, person and everything that makes up your life is incredibly freeing and liberating and will ensure Every Day Gets Better. 😊
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