Have to / Get to

Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and something that was said began to play over and over again in your mind?

It happened to me yesterday.

I was speaking with someone and throughout the conversation she kept saying things like, “I HAVE TO go do ____. Then I HAVE TO get ____ done. And after that I HAVE TO go ______.”

It wasn’t the person who was saying this that stuck with me. It was the phrase itself and the way it kept coming across in my mind. I use it all the time too but it just never stuck out to me as it did yesterday.

“I HAVE TO.”

If you think about it, “I HAVE TO” is actually quite negative. It signifies a duty, responsibility, and obligation or better yet… a chore that we don’t really want to do. In reality we should be using words that express our gratitude and thanksgiving for even the most mundane of things because, after all, there are many others in the world who are dying to do some of those things we feel like we HAVE TO do.

I think from now on I am going to try my best to replace “I HAVE TO” with “I GET TO.”

It’s in appreciation of even the simplest of things that we’re reminded of the grace we’ve been given and the joy that we should find in everything we GET TO do.