At yoga class the other day, the instructor spoke about changing our perspective from “I have to” to “I get to.” For example, she explained: thinking “UGH” I have to do the dishes, versus saying, “yay” I get to do the dishes!  I must admit, when I heard her say this as I was in downward facing dog, I felt like physically throwing my dishwasher at her head. (#kiddingnotkidding)  But recently I’ve been trying to shift my perspective in this way, and its been working wonders.

Last Saturday, I woke up at 6am to sneak out to the bathroom.  I say “sneak” because my puppy Kingston looked deep asleep, and if I was quiet enough, I could quickly slip back into bed before he awoke.  I still had two hours until my favorite local yoga class began, so plenty of snooze time left.  Or so I thought…  Kingston began to whine incessantly and I decided it wasn’t worth it to go back to bed, and my mother’s guilt wouldn’t let me to fall asleep anyway.  I reluctantly put my sneakers on and told him to come to the door.

As I walked outside into the quiet, crisp sunshine, something inside made me think about changing my perspective.  I could either spend this time with a scowl on my face, lamenting that I “have to” walk my dog, or I could embrace that I “get to” relaxingly stroll in the park alone with my best friend on this beautiful silent morning before everyone else in the neighborhood wakes up.  I “get to” have this special moment.  Walking and running in the early morning had always been my favorite hobby, and this morning I get to do it with my happy puppy who was actually behaving today.  I “get to” be present here and enjoy this moment!

So I am going to continue to try to shift my perspective like this more often.

However, I must be honest.  It may be a while until I feel lucky to “get to” do those dishes….