I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Today’s stoic is about opportunity. Changing the have to do list to a get to list. The best example I have is driving into work. I usually leave very early (around 6 a.m.) to avoid all the traffic. There’s a bottleneck leaving the suburb I live in and several more along the way. Without traffic it takes me 30 minutes to get to work. With traffic that can easily increase by 15-20 minutes. One morning I left at my usual time 6 a.m. I cruised through the first bottleneck only to suddenly stop at a highway interchange. Instead of getting upset, I saw it as an opportunity to meditate. So I did that. It was much more beneficial and productive than sitting there pissed off at the non-movement. Two hours later I was finally at work.

This is a concept I started to do for certain things. Now I think I’ll use it to refrain some of my thought process. I don’t have to go to bed now to get a new good night sleep for work. I get to go to bed, so that I get a good night sleep. Or on the weekend I don’t have to go to bed so I don’t waste half the morning. I get to go to bed so I can get up early and play with my kids. I don’t have to go to work. I get to go to work and contribute to a company that is doing good things or continue to challenge myself and advance my career. It’s quite a powerful reframe.