Opinion
I Get To
“Daddy… Daddy… (thump)… Daddy… Daddy… (thump).” This is the sound of Jackson, age 4, coming down the basement stairs to my office. Of course you need to add about fifteen “Daddy’s” to that scenario to get the full effect, say them back to back with about a millisecond between them, and do it in sing song as if it is a symphony for one as he makes his way down the stairs.
At this moment I am faced with a choice; I need to work, and I am in the middle of something. Do I send him back upstairs or stop what I am doing? In the middle of my mental debate I simply told myself, “I get to spend a little time with Jackson!” I was rewarded with a million questions asked in consecutive order as he made his way to my desk. I held out my arms and he climbed up into my lap, sat down, leaned up against me and uttered softly, “I love you, Daddy.”
After about ten seconds he asked, “Why is your office so messy?” I told him that I hadn’t unpacked all my boxes yet. He announced that he would help, as he proceeded to “clean up” my office by emptying boxes and filling up my once empty book shelves.
It’s still a mess, but now I perceive it differently. Suddenly the mess in my office makes me smile as I remember Jackson piling books and other items randomly on my bookshelves, instead of it being a reminder of my laziness. It’s a good change!
Everyday we have perceptions; how we view the events around us. We can’t control them, but we can control how we dwell upon them and react to them. In fact, how we focus our thinking has everything to do with the way we wind up responding.
The mindset you choose when you wake up will set the tone for the rest of your day.
You may not even realize you are choosing a mindset, but intentionally or not, one will be chosen.
You may be sitting there thinking, “Johnny, you are just playing mind games with yourself.” And I have to admit you are partially correct, but that doesn’t make it any less true! The battles we fight as Christians all have their beginnings in our minds. James 1:14 tells us that we are tempted because of our desires and that is what leads to sinful behavior. Our desires come from our thinking; what we continually dwell on.
Success, whether spiritual or professional is a battle for your mind!
It is at this level where we can find early victory if we take advantage of the opportunity. If you find yourself in the midst of negative thinking you can take charge and do what Romans 12:2-3 encourages you to do and “renew your mind.”
The word renew in the Greek also means, “to rebuild.” Much like replacing a rotting 2x4 in a wall keeps the rot from spreading, so replacing negative thoughts with truth keeps us from spiraling into anger or depression.
One way you can begin to renew your mind is to lose the “have to” mentality and grab hold of the “get to” mentality. Thinking that I have to do something leads me into frustration and complaining; even if it is only done silently in my mind.
Simply changing one word; replacing “have” with “get” changes my whole perspective. I get to work today, I get to learn more about my clients, I get to share truth with them, I get to love my wife, I get to embrace my children, I get to help a stranger, I get to listen to the rain, I get to spend time with God and learn more about how much he loves me!
None of those things are conditional on anyone else but me. No one can steal those opportunities away from me today without my permission. Today is the only moment I will ever have. Today I can make a choice to see opportunities instead of tasks, options instead of dead ends.
We are only limited in what we can do by our minds, by how we choose to see the world around us. Today, right now, we get to… if you choose to!
Johnny Walker is a Christian Counselor and the founder of Family Works Counseling.
