WHEN I FEEL FLAT AND BORED,
I FAKE IT.
I TRAIN BY SAYING YES
TO WHATEVER COMES MY WAY -
DRAMA, COMEDY, TRAGEDY,
LOVE, DEATH, LOSSES.
YES TO LIFE.
(Isabel Allende)
Okay, I need to train my body to eat right and to exercise, but I also need to train my mind to say yes more often, way more often than I do. I tend to either hesitate or I just say no - fear and worry and anxiety forcing the word up my throat and through my lips before the fun, creative, imaginative side of me - she's in there somewhere! - even knows what's happening.
How many wonderful opportunities are passing me by? How many learning experiences am I missing? How much fuller can my life be if I just say yes?
If you're someone who already says yes to life, please share with us how you do it. If you're more like me, let's practice saying yes together, not only for this week but for always.
It's funny--I used to ALWAYS be a yes person. As I get older I am much pickier... I think somewhere in the middle is actually the right answer...
ReplyDeleteYeah, I'm not about to say "yes" to everything but I definitely want to say it more, and say it to the right things for me. :)
DeleteI've become an automatic "no-man" for sure. I just assume I can't do stuff. Usually, I change my mind and do it anyway. But I don't want "no" to be my reflex answer.
ReplyDeleteIt's going to be hard changing those reflex-answer-no's, but I believe we can if we put our minds to it.
DeleteWe only live once, so we mustn't let those opportunities slip by - I'm with you to saying yes more often :)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try to think more about who I am and who I want to be when saying yes or no to things. :)
DeleteI'm with Hart - I'm very careful with my yes answers. And my time.
ReplyDeleteHow do I say yes? If I feel that strong tug, I just say yes and not worry about it.
I'm getting better at being more careful with my time. Choosing to say yes - and no - to the right things for me will help with that.
DeleteI force myself to say yes to opportunities sometimes and then dread what I've gotten myself into. Then when it's done, I'm so glad I did.
ReplyDeleteIt's important to learn from whatever the opportunity taught us, whether that was to not ever try that again or to be incredibly pleased and proud of ourselves for taking it on. Or both. :)
DeleteWhoa--I'm with you on every word of this (including the eating right and exercising!). I always feel like I'm holding myself back, letting things pass me by.
ReplyDeleteWe end up missing out on so much by holding ourselves back. Let's start changing that by saying "yes" an extra time or two this week. :)
DeleteI'm better than I used to be, but I could use some more practice saying "yes!"
DeletePractice makes perfect! :)
DeleteAh, yes, I need to say yes more to exercising and no to a few unhealthy food habits. Yes, depends on the question . . . Yes to life sounds good. :)
ReplyDeleteI try to make it like I'm saying "yes" to activity and not so much to exercise - a bike ride or a walk outside, getting some fresh air, thinking about writing and life, etc. Makes it easier to say "yes" that way. :)
DeleteI am like you so I'm going to practice. This is something I was getting good at for a while but I seem to have gone in reverse lately and am feeling "flat" way too often. Here's to getting out of that rut and saying yes.
ReplyDeleteI hate that "flat" feeling - I'd almost rather feel bad or sad or something than that "meh." Let's get out of the rut - we can do it! :)
DeleteGreat post, Madeline! I used to say yes far too often, but now I think I'm the opposite extreme. I'm always up for seeing friends, but things like charity events, etc. are often passed up. I'm going to think about why I'm saying no more carefully and see what happens.
ReplyDeleteI think there's a difference between saying "yes" because you really want to do something and saying "yes" out of obligation. We still need to be careful what we say "yes" to - otherwise, we'll end up overextended and unhappy.
DeleteSo true! I talk myself out of so many things instead of giving them a try.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is that usually when I try something, I end up either liking it or at least learning something from it.
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