You don't have to...YOU GET TO!

 

"You don't have to see the whole staircase...just take the first step!"

Yesterday I full on had one of those days! A pity-party in which I was the only one attending! 

I had many things on my daily TO DO LIST...with a very long swim being one of them! 

However...the gloomy, overcast, rainy, I am sore, motivation no where to be found, pathetic mind was forcing me to develop excuse after excuse as to WHY I didn't need to swim! 

Patients asked what I was doing after work and with a probably weak, defeated tone I said..."I have to swim!" 

It took a few times of rehearsing my excuse script in my head and losing more and more energy as I used the word HAVE until I reached a point of...

STOP! 

That stop point didn't come until my first stroke hit the water...

I was like a kid having a temper tantrum, fighting myself all the way to the pool as to why I SHOULDN'T be swimming. 

Luckily my wife is brilliant with her verbiage and gave me some delightful, four letter word, response when I said I was going home instead of swimming. 

Once that first stroke hit the water...I was literally transferred into a new mindset state and realized, yet once again, that I don't have to swim...I GET TO SWIM! 

Everything we do in our life falls into the same self-talk paradigm...

I don't have to be a good dad...I GET TO BE A GOOD DAD!

I don't have to be kind to people...I GET TO BE KIND TO PEOPLE!

I don't have to write this blog...I GET TO WRITE THIS BLOG!

I don't have to eat well...I GET TO EAT WELL!

I don't have to train for a 10 mile swim...I GET TO TRAIN FOR A 10 MILE SWIM!

I don't have to go to work today...I GET TO GO TO WORK TODAY! 

Everything we do is an opportunity to be better than we were yesterday! 

When we think in a GET TO mindset we are immediately gravitating towards a state of GRATITUDE and when we are in that state of GRATITUDE its almost like drinking rocket fuel towards success. 

I learned this morning that my Uncle's dementia has gotten pretty bad...it breaks my heart to hear how he struggles to remember family members and simple day to day chores. 

Knowing that neuro-degenerative disease runs in my family even helps me highlight the importance of celebrating what I GET TO DO! 

You may love complaining how life isn't fair because of the thousand of silly reasons we complain about but what really do you have to complain about? 

Life is definitely not fair at times but it is always up to us to stay on the horse and keep fighting forward. 

What do I GET TO DO TODAY?

I GET TO keep making it count!

I GET TO be married to the most amazing women ever!

I GET TO be a dad...greatest job ever!

I GET TO never grow up and keep using my imagination for good! 

I GET TO get uncomfortable via exercise and keep pushing the boundaries of what is possible for me! 

I GET TO simply stated...appreciate all life has given me...the good, the bad and the ugly as they all equally have brought me to this point in life! 

Thanks to everyone who has donated money to my swim (link is above)...I am about to level up training some so stay tuned to more updates! 

Always Crush Life! 

Make It Count!