The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' (I found it!) but 'That's funny'.
-Isaac Asimov
Since
I've been trying my best to replace the sentences that begin with 'I
should', 'I need to' and 'I have to' with the sweeter sounding 'I want
to...', I've gradually done away with a set load of distasteful chores.
There's now a tendency to describe what I want in better terms. "I have to throw that stinky, rotten mess out of here", becomes "I want a clean, odorless refrigerator". The chore remains, but clean and odorless have become the focus and so I feel better as I'm tossing the usual suspects off the shelf.
Gradually, those things that could not be transformed by altering my vocabulary or attitude, have slowly been deleted. It's amazing how many things there are that I think I should do, that go unnoticed by the world whether I do them or not! That's funny.
Many times, the things I enjoy and really want, compete for my time. As an example, the three things I like to do early in the morning are (1) checking in on Twitter, (2) doing the Mother Sequence of yoga poses and (3) writing my morning pages. The other day, I realized that I can get online or write my three pages any time of the day with no problem. But if I miss my morning yoga sequence...well, the sun just doesn't seem to roll across the sky correctly. No matter how much yoga I do during the day, I feel as though I missed out on something. The Mother Sequence is my meditation, my Cheerios, my starting fluid. It became a 'have to' when I wasn't looking!
So I've made a few changes and now acknowledge: "I want to do my yoga sequence in the morning because it makes me happy all day long." Amazingly, a better space for my mat has appeared just inside my front door and there are folks who'd like to join me in an early morning practice of the Mother Sequence too. Everything is conspiring to make me happy and that's how I know I'm moving in the right direction.
You don't have to do this, only if you want to, but think about those things that have been gnawing at you. Listen to the talk that begins with "I have to", "I need to" and "I should". What happens when you start those sentences with "I want to"?
This is what I found: I want to find all the things I have to do to make me happy.
Photo: SighlentJ via Flickr.
There's now a tendency to describe what I want in better terms. "I have to throw that stinky, rotten mess out of here", becomes "I want a clean, odorless refrigerator". The chore remains, but clean and odorless have become the focus and so I feel better as I'm tossing the usual suspects off the shelf.
Gradually, those things that could not be transformed by altering my vocabulary or attitude, have slowly been deleted. It's amazing how many things there are that I think I should do, that go unnoticed by the world whether I do them or not! That's funny.
Many times, the things I enjoy and really want, compete for my time. As an example, the three things I like to do early in the morning are (1) checking in on Twitter, (2) doing the Mother Sequence of yoga poses and (3) writing my morning pages. The other day, I realized that I can get online or write my three pages any time of the day with no problem. But if I miss my morning yoga sequence...well, the sun just doesn't seem to roll across the sky correctly. No matter how much yoga I do during the day, I feel as though I missed out on something. The Mother Sequence is my meditation, my Cheerios, my starting fluid. It became a 'have to' when I wasn't looking!
So I've made a few changes and now acknowledge: "I want to do my yoga sequence in the morning because it makes me happy all day long." Amazingly, a better space for my mat has appeared just inside my front door and there are folks who'd like to join me in an early morning practice of the Mother Sequence too. Everything is conspiring to make me happy and that's how I know I'm moving in the right direction.
You don't have to do this, only if you want to, but think about those things that have been gnawing at you. Listen to the talk that begins with "I have to", "I need to" and "I should". What happens when you start those sentences with "I want to"?
This is what I found: I want to find all the things I have to do to make me happy.
Photo: SighlentJ via Flickr.
