Getting Out of "The Gotta Zone" - Drop Old, Pointless Habits
Today's Affirmation
My life is built on choices not chances. Today I choose the life of my dreams and I live it now.
How often do you say it or hear others say it: "I've gotta do this or I've gotta do that?” Often these “gottas” are old obligations or beliefs you adhere to out of guilt. Let’s get rid of your gottas.
It seems our society is obsessed with "gottas." We stress ourselves over all the things we've gotta get done. What we have forgotten is that most of the things we've gotta do relate to choices we've made. Through time, we have convinced ourselves that theses gottas are necessities imposed upon us by others.
Do you thrive on stress and worry? When is one worry resolved do you immediately start searching for the next thing to worry about? Is there always another “gotta” on your list? Why must you live this way? You don’t have to. It’s a choice. You can free yourself from all the gottas.
Some might argue you gotta pay taxes, or conform to the law of gravity, or die. There are things that might be called the rules of life that you and I cannot get around. What if we shifted our perspective? Why enslave us by applying "gotta" to these things we can’t control? They will happen. There’s no gotta in them. Mark them off your gotta list.
Beyond these few exceptions, you "gottas" amount to no more than choices you've made related to who you are or who you think you should be.
When you hear yourself saying "gotta" in any circumstance, ask this question.
Why must I do this?
The "because" phrase that follows tells you who or what has conditioned you to think you "gotta" do that.
Because my mom wants me to.
Because what would my husband think?
Because God says so.
Because I can’t be happy until…
Your "because phrase" also tells you what needs to be healed or let go of or faced to remove that "gotta" from your life.
If your "because" phrase is just old programming or isn't really something you value today, then you know you’re dealing with a gotta that was once forced upon you from the outside, but now can be released.
Most of our gottas are really choices disguised as gottas. If so, then they aren’t really empirical musts imposed upon us by a demanding universe. They are simply value judgments we have made or allowed to be made for us. They are choices and we can choose differently.
We, you and I, have power over our choices whereas a true gotta is dictated to us. Thinking about things this way is very freeing. Realizing that most of our gottas really aren't and taking responsibility for making the choices we want in our lives is the first step towards getting out of The Gotta Zone.
Wishing you a peaceful and positive Monday!
Ray
