you have to read this!

Okay, so get this…

Today, I have to wake up at 6:30am. I have to pray. I have to do pushups. I have to take a shower. I have to grab something quick to eat on my way out. I have to drive 35 minutes to work. I have to be to work by 8:00am. After work, I have to drive back another 35 minutes to get home. I have to make and eat lunch. I have to go to class at 2:30pm. I have a meeting at 6:00pm. I have to be at the school until 8:30pm. I have to make dinner. I have to call my mother. I have to do my homework. I have to help my friend. I have to charge my phone. I have to pray. Then, finally, I get to go to bed and sleep.

[compared to]:

Okay, so get this…

Today, I get the opportunity to wake up at 6:30am and watch the sun come up over the Eastern Mountains. Often, a sunrise is more eloquent than a sunset, yet so many people miss out on its beauty. I get a chance to have a conversation with God, the creator of all things, and tell him what I plan on doing throughout my day and ask for His help. Because I have a body with working limbs, I get to do as many pushups as I can to help me stay healthy. I get to take advantage of the blessing of having warm, running water rushing instantly out of a faucet to cleanse myself and prepare for what lies ahead of me during the day. I then get to do what thousands of people across the globe do not get to do…eat food. It’s usually even something that is packed with nutrients, vitamins, and proteins to give me energy throughout the course of my day. I get to climb into a vehicle that I own and that allows me to travel great distances in short amounts of time, while, at the same time, protecting me from the cold weather outside. I get to drive in that vehicle for 35 minutes! That means 35 minutes to either: listen to my favorite music, think about important things going on in my life, or think about how fortunate I am to have the things that I have. I get the opportunity to come to work, to be surrounded by advanced technology, inspiring people, and great leaders. I get to learn new programs, new tasks, and new talents. After work, I get to take another 35 minute drive southward and again: listen to music, observe the wonderful things that surround me, or even try to think of new ways to make tomorrow even better than today has already been. I get to test my creativity by forming something delicious to eat for lunch by using foods like breads, and cheeses, and fruits; foods that I did not have to spend hours preparing or harvesting for myself. But how much greater it would be if I did get the opportunity to harvest my own food and relish in the idea of creating something entirely from scratch. I get the privilege of attending a University in order to increase my knowledge, skills, and abilities as a human being. I get to be surrounded by people who are in similar situations that I am in and that I could turn to for help if needed. I get to involve myself in programs that allow me to excel as a leader and to have meetings with people that want to accomplish something great. I get to return from school to a nice, spacious, and warm apartment with amazing roommates; roommates that have different backgrounds and beliefs than I do. Because of that, I get to learn of different cultures, ideas, and diversify my life even more than it was the day before. I get to eat, again! Think about it! At least 3 times during the day, I get to please my taste-buds, my stomach, and my appetite. Because I was blessed with parents, and those parents are still alive and well today, I get to use technology and speak instantly with my mother or father, who are hundreds of miles away, through technological advancements called cell-phones, or skype sessions, or texts, or emails, or whatever else there is. I get a chance to review things that I learned in class during the day and sharpen my knowledge even more than what it was before by means of homework and studying. If a problem or challenge presents itself throughout my day, I get the opportunity to problem-solve and to triumph in overcoming an obstacle. I get the opportunity to share my insights, my strengths, and my talents with a friend who has trusted me enough to come to me for help. I get the opportunity to forget my own life and my own problems for even a few short moments and focus entirely on the life of another individual. And because of that, I get to feel the warm, satisfying feeling of helping another human being become greater than he or she ever thought they could. I get to, again, relish in the amazing technology that I am surrounded with and plug my portable phone into a port in the wall where electricity is readily available at incredible speeds and unbelievable strength. I get to take time, again, to talk to God: discuss how my day went, thank Him for His help and for everything that He has given me and everyone else in this world, and then wish Him goodnight. And then, after such an amazing day…I have to get to bed and sleep.

[what a difference, right?]

Okay, now get this…

“Embrace this day with an enthusiastic welcome, no matter how it looks.”

If I could offer you even one piece of advice or insight, it would be this very thing. Because when you can consciously flip a switch in your sub conscience to find the good in anything and everything, rather than focusing strictly on the bad, you become the creator or your own world and everything surrounding you. When you replace “I have to” with “I get to”, your heart constantly swells and happiness is found even in the darkest of times. Your life suddenly turns from a depressing eulogy into a lyrical poem, a romantic novel, or a future best-selling auto-biography. When you change how you view your world, your world changes accordingly. 

Life is too good and too short to: wallow in self-pity, to not reach your greatest potential, or to not be able to look into the eyes of the hard times that come before you and just smile. When you learn to do this, sleeping becomes something that you “have to” do and not something that you “get to” do. It becomes something that keeps you from living life, rather than being the highlight of your day. When you learn to do this, challenges become things that you “get to” figure out and not things that you “have to” figure out. They become things that help you to actually LIVE life, and not just let life pass you by.

“In your life, there have to be challenges….but YOU make the decision of which road you take.”

Man up. Flip the switch. Change your world.

Here’s to LIFE, as you want it to be lived.

Cheers.