How To Stop Begrudgingly Doing Things

We all face things we feel we have to do. I have to go to work. I have to pay bills. I have to exercise. This approach already creates an environment of begrudging. No one wants to do these things, so we tell ourselves that we have to. Turns out, we don’t have to anything. We don’t have to sleep, and we don’t have to eat, but I would never recommend those things. We are always granted a choice. We don’t even have to breathe, but after a few minutes, you probably won’t be conscious and will be moving really close if not past the line of dying.

So now this all sounds morbid and almost threatening. Why would a person promoting health and wellness tell you about death and infer that you can be super lazy to the point of doing nothing? I’m not. I’m giving you a choice. I’m trying to refocus your mind away from the I have to; into I get to. I grant myself the chance. I will take the opportunity. In this, the begrudging nature of I have to is distorted into uplifting attempts to better oneself.

For a week, I challenged myself to restate any thought of I have to into I get to. I don’t have to get out of bed. I get to get out of bed. I’m granted an opportunity some do not have, and I should not begrudgingly go through something because I have to. I do not have to train. I get to train. I get to better myself at something. I reward myself to try again over forcing myself through punishment.

No one wants to be punished. Well, there are some, but the nature of that is better suited for a “50 Shades of Grey” discussion over the punishment I’m referring to. Some of us look at exercise as a punishment for eating a certain thing or way. Why is it a punishment to improve? Instead of reviewing decisions through a lens of “have to,” take a moment to appreciate who you are, the great things you have done and the great things you are still to do. Are you even aware, that someone right now is envious of you? That something you begrudgingly do would be an absolutely paramount of joy to another. It’s not too hard to contemplate. You woke up today. Some did not. You got out of a warm bed. Some did not. You brushed your teeth and had clean water. Some do not. You have a job. Some do not. You walk around. Some cannot. These simple menial tasks would evoke such an opportunity to others.

So therefore, the next time you threaten yourself with the “I have to” mentality. Instead try and grace yourself with the opportunity of “I get to.” It will help you go into tough things with determination, gratitude, and self-respect to improve your wonderful abilities.