Day Twenty-five, What if we didn't "Have to..."

DAY TWENTY-FIVE
What if we didn’t “have to”?

We sometimes go through our days, one event / job/ tasks to the next, all propelled forward by what we “have to” do next. It sometimes seems that half the time at least, we are lost from the present in what we are doing because as we near the end of one “have to” activity, we focus inside on “getting to” and then “how are we going to do it” about the next “have to” activity.

This is pretty easily seen for the missing out on the present it is, but in today’s aim, I’d like us to focus also on the burden of the “have to” that is lurking in our feelings all day.

What would we be like if we “just” did thing, or didn’t do things, without the nagging, or reminding, or persistent voice of this is what we “have to” do.

This writing now. I’m setting out to do so much today. I could be doing it to get rid of the “have to” voice that was coming up earlier. Then I realized that I could just write and let that voice be silent. Maybe I “had to” do this writing to fulfill a goal I’d set for myself. Maybe I didn’t.

All that seemed like a waste of energy as I was getting in a car to drive in the rain. I could leave the voice behind and just get into the car, sense myself on the seat, follow my breathing.

And now I’m writing.

Feels such and such in my arms and legs and spine.

Maybe I have to do it, maybe I don’t. The Universe will get along just fine if I don’t, and I’m enjoying do it, and what can you feel in yourself right now.

And what if, after you’ve read this chapter and imagined a day without the “have to “ voice inside, you took a little “rest” after reading this chapter. A little pause where you “did nothing” and didn’t think about what you “have to” do next, or “have to” do today. You just sat, or stood, or walked, or lay down, or lay down and moved around. Then you got up and discovered yourself doing what you did next. Have that day.