'I HAVE TO' versus 'I GET TO'

I was fortunate enough to be gifted at Christmas with a certificate for books (one of my favorite things). And I was on the wonderful Patricia Mosca's site where she was talking about The Awe-Manac by Jill Badonsky.

So since I know Patricia is a woman of wonderful taste and I have Jill Badonsky's The Nine Modern Day Muses (and One Bodyguard), I ordered the book and got it a couple of days ago. We will not mention the pacing and checking the tracking status of the order. Of course, the minute it was delivered the power went out!

While reading by candlelight on the surface seems beautifully retro and romantic, 51 year old eyes can't handle it. Besides, I had a feeling I wanted to savor it more....like carefully selecting and allowing a piece of chocolate to melt in your mouth. (Yes, Patricia, there is a ton of chocolate between the walls of this home!)

Into my pack it went, along with my journal, to take to work. We are pretty slow now and I get to read between calls. I had my journal, highlighters, pens, all ready to start the book.

On page 5 the light bulb went off. Or rather stadium lights went on when she talked about replacing "I have to..." with "I get to..."

Have you ever had those moments when something hits you and you get so jazzed and excited you want to tell the world...tap dance on your desk? Your skin feels too tight, you can feel every blood cell moving? That was what I was feeling.

I am the world's worse person with money and this year is not starting out well. However, I have started moving forward to correct this problem and am feeling positive about what I GET TO DO.

Just looking at this major area in my life and how depressing it can be, it makes it much easier to deal with it when I say...

"I get to pay my bills on time."

"I get to not rely on borrowing from Peter to pay Paul."

"I get to have professional help to set new habits."

"I get to not worry every day about money."

This probably isn't exactly what Ms. Badonsky was thinking when she wrote the book, but 5 pages into it and if nothing else I named the 8th of January "I GET TO' day. (The 7th was named Rainbow Day)