Wiser words were never spoken. My niece said this years ago when she was about 5 or 6 and I haven’t stopped saying it since. It’s the perfect saying, matter of fact, this article title has been in my drafts for about 2 months now. I just can’t want to finish writing it… until now.
It’s winter in the Midwest and I’m looking out my window at snowdrifts and frigid temperatures. I can’t want to go out there. I should think about shoveling some of it for my husband or the mail lady, but I can’t want to. In a sense, I don’t want to and I can’t make myself change my mind. No cruel intentions, I just can’t muster up enough want to do said things.
Duty, obligation, responsibility… we don’t really want to do most of the things that fall into this category, but we certainly enjoy the fruits of our labor for a majority of these types of things. Whether for personal relationships, to earn a living and have the things we have in life, or to maintain some sort of status or merit. We can figure out how to want to indirectly because we see the correlation of undesirable prerequisites.
Sometimes the only way to push forward on a block of sorts (when you can’t want to) is to start doing it anyway. Look at me, writing my thoughts on this topic without a clear plan or inspiration, other than how much I relate to this saying. However, there is a message that is coming out of it. Hang in there!
I recently heard a public speaker talk about rewiring yourself for success in the morning. Don’t look at your phone, take time to think about goals for the day, and force yourself out of bed. Count down from 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Then get the fuck up! Take time to listen to inspiring sounds, smell, taste, touch inspiring things…
Okay, well here’s reality…
You know when you get in that frozen state of, “What the fuck am I doing? Why do I have to? Can I put it off?” -Stop! I’ll admit counting helps and there is some scientific evidence that the part of your brain that drives movement is closely tied to the place where counting is. So, maybe do that. Let’s be real though, not all days allow enough time to stop and smell the roses to get inspired.
Life is full of duty and obligation, but here’s the catch I’m going to throw out there for you to noodle on…
- Do you have a job you like enough that provides the life you want? Are you good at it?
- Are the people in your life worth surrounding yourself with? Do you feel the scales of those relationships are balanced?
- Do you have time to find inspiration and make new goals in life? Are you accomplishing those goals day by day and piece by piece?
- Are you consistently learning and growing as a person? Are you proud of who you are and what you do?
Big picture, think of the big picture! Then, next time you’re sitting there being a whiny little brat to yourself about how you can’t want to… Want better, be better, and surround yourself with better! Want to live!
Stop being a little bitch and move! 5, 4, 3, 2….