Writeaholic Inspiration: You Don’t Have To Write, You Get To Write

I was reading an article recently about a man who is a single parent of a very special needs child.

He said that his life seemed difficult and often he felt it was unfair that he was always so busy and that his son required his constant care.

Then one day he had an epiphany and suddenly his life was so much easier and pleasurable. He didn’t change a thing about his life. He still got up every day and did the same things he’d always done. The only thing that he did change was his attitude.

It all happened when he was showering with his son one night (his son can’t shower on his own) and he was grumping to himself about never being able to shower on his own because he always had to shower with his son.

Then for some unknown reason he suddenly stopped and thought, “I don’t HAVE to shower with my son, I GET to shower with him.”

And that was it. His life changed in that moment. He decided that from then on, he would stop saying ‘have to’ and say ‘get to’ instead. And that one small decision changed his whole life.

I then read about a woman whose friend had an auto-immune disease and could no longer move and needed constant nursing.

She said that seeing her friend’s predicament changed her life because it made her appreciate things instead of complaining.

She said that whenever she woke up during the night and had to turnover, instead of her usual irritable thought about being awake when she didn’t want to be, she’d think to herself that she didn’t have to turn over, she gets to turnover, which is more than her friend could do now. Her friend had to wait to be turned over, no matter how long she was awake and how uncomfortable she was. She didn’t get to turn over anymore.

Thinking that we get to do something instead of having to do it, puts everything in a new perspective of realising how lucky we are that we get to do so much.

And it can be applied to writing when you really don’t feel like it.

Just think that you don’t have to write, you get to write.

And then sit down and enjoy it.