The things we get to do | 3 minute read

“You get to ride the choo choo today,” Andrea told me Thursday morning as she drove me to the train station.

I had been up since 5am, had eaten my first breakfast (when you’re up that early, one just won’t do), and had consumed more coffee than the average person probably has in an entire week.

You might say taking the “choo choo” was the last thing I wanted to be doing.

But her choice of words made my day not only more bearable – it made me more enthusiastic about it. More enthusiastic for all things that came with it.

I’ve had the idea for a post like this kicking around in my head since we started this little newsletter. Since before I started taking the train every few days to get to work. It felt a little trite and preachy and it’s certainly nothing groundbreaking, but it’s been beneficial so I figured I’d finally share.

Where the idea came from: Over the last few years, one of the first things I’d say to Andrea as we laid in bed (at a reasonable-but-still-before-9am-hour) was “we get to go to work today.”

Not “we have to go to work today.”

I believed – and still believe – that that small shift in mindset was powerful. It gives us agency over the things we do in our day-to-day lives. It shifts obligation to privilege.

As an example, that morning train ride gave me the chance to:

• Listen to a recently released remaster of one of my favourite albums

• Read, understand, and respond to an important contract

• Think about this post a little bit

Oh, yeah. I’m also writing this on an evening train that’s taking me 300+ kms in the opposite direction of home. Where I get to spend Saturday at a sailing club helping to put boats away for the winter. It'll be a long and stressful day.

I watch the lake pass me by as the sun sets and I think “all of these things are a privilege.”

The pebble

The challenge

Try swapping “I have to” with “I get to.” It’ll help… maybe.