"I Get To Do This" Can Change Your Life

I love how the world works, how chance encounters and quick decisions that don’t even seem like decisions at the moment can shape your entire life and vision.

Through a series of seemingly random events that began with a part-time writing gig last year, I have met and corresponded recently with some very strong women athletes. Not seeing myself in this category, I nevertheless have taken a mantra from their ranks. (These are women who can complete an Ironman—certainly not in my league, but wasn’t it Browning that said your reach must exceed your grasp? I don’t mind the stretch!)

And it is just one simple sentence from one busy woman in Minnesota that has really changed my tune: “I get to do this.”  Five words that can change the way I see the everyday, the miraculous, and the difficult. A little known cousin of “I HAVE to do this,” my new mantra opens doors and colors the way I look at everything. Really.

I get to do this. I scrub the dishes and greasy pans from dinner. And it makes me thankful for the food on my table and my healthy children who can eat it without fear of allergies or disease. 

I get to do this. I wash load after load of clothes and I am grateful for the water piped into my house and the fact that I don’t have to haul everything to the laundromat. Or the river. 

I get to do this. I rake the leaves (and rake and rake and rake) and realize how much I love the change of seasons and the 19 solid trees in my yard that bring me shade and animals and a whole pile of fun in the fall for my kids.

I get to do this. I teach with passion and make some tough calls with adolescents on a daily basis. But I am so thankful to have a job to help my family and a job that makes a difference. Even on the days it feels like talking to cement block.

I get to do this. I wake before 5 to make it to the gym and run fast on the treadmill. This never fails to amaze me as I make my legs and lungs do things I never thought they could. And I offer up the pain for people who are ill or unable and would give anything to be running in my place.

I GET to do this. I remind and cajole and discipline and teach these three children who belong to me. I break up fights and wipe crayon off walls and say the same things again and again and again. But I am endlessly grateful for the laughter and the lessons and the world views they spout at our kitchen table.

The list goes on and on. When I change my mindset from “I HAVE to do this” to “I GET to do this,” everything seems a blessing rather than a drudgery. I have always been an optimist, but somehow this simple mantra makes it all more clear. I am a very lucky woman and I am thankful for all I get to do!