I Have to What??!! - Fitness Incentive

How about when you have to do something else way worse than emptying the dishwasher, like going to Costco on a Saturday?!

Andrea Kay

Whenever I go to put wet laundry in the dryer, and there is dry laundry staring back at me, I get cranky. I’m human. A close second to the laundry mess is putting a dirty spoon in the dishwasher only to find clean dishes. Good lord! I would almost rather do anything else other than empty that darn dishwasher because of one spoon.

There’s nothing more anger-inducing than ‘having to’ do something. And guess what? If you plan on drying that wet laundry, you ‘have to’ get that dry stuff out of the dryer… And the dishwasher isn’t going to unload itself…. But, and hear me out, how about when you have to do something else way worse than emptying the dishwasher, like going to Costco on a Saturday?! Then you will put off that way worse thing specifically (and gladly) to unload the dishwasher. Then it’s all about, “ohhh, goodie, I ‘get to’ unload the dishwasher before I have to go wrestle an alligator.” Fact: humans are weird.

I’m not just rambling. Perception really is reality. Having someone make you, or making yourself, feel like you ‘have to’ do something just makes that thing a chore and not at all something to look forward to. When I feel like I ‘have to’ go for a run…

Having to wake up to go for a run or bike or hit the gym gets me like 🙁 every… damn… time. But like I said before, humans are weird, and by humans, I mean me. I’m weird. All things being exactly the same, if I just tell myself I ‘get to’ run with Liz or Tanya or Mike tomorrow morning, I’m able to jump right up and throw on my running duds.

We are a funny and spoiled bunch, aren’t we? We really have every opportunity to ‘get to’ do all these amazing things every day because we are strong and capable, and we have ourselves believing that we ‘have to’ do any of them.

We don’t ‘have to’ eat healthy foods and exercise daily and even empty that dang dishwasher, we really ‘get to’ do those things. And because you are all smart (I can just tell) and super-evolved (stop blushing), I will tuck my soapbox back under the desk and spare you all the long version because I know you’re all picking up what I’m putting down.