Call me a nearly 40-year-old rebel, but there’s something about the word “should” that makes my skin crawl.<\/p>\n
There are lots of things I like doing and some that I even love doing. But add “should” or “ought to” in front of them and suddenly I feel hemmed in, restricted, disinterested. I should spend 15 minutes working on my blog. I ought to work on that sock I meant to finish last month. Nope. I have other things to do — like wash the kitchen floor — that are more pressing.<\/p>\n
I don’t know why that is except that I struggle with authority, even when that authority is my own. Who are you, or I, to tell me what to do?<\/p>\n
So instead I work to abolish the word “should” from my vocabulary when I talk to myself, much like one might when talking to a reactionary toddler or teenager. I want to be able to cross exercising off today’s to-do list. I’ll be glad to have written a blog post. Finishing these socks will free up some needles so I can cast on something new.<\/p>\n
Many times (and more and more often, since I realized the problem) the rephrasing\/re-envisioning works. But other times I dig in my heels and say, who’s gonna make me? (I can be a real spoiled brat sometimes.)<\/p>\n
And while I should be firm with myself and ought to have consequences for not following through on desired actions, we all know how that’s going to turn out…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Call me a nearly 40-year-old rebel, but there’s something about the word “should” that makes my skin crawl. There are lots of things I like doing and some that I even love doing. But add “should” or “ought to” in front of them and suddenly I feel hemmed in, restricted, disinterested. I should spend 15 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n