Just say, “Yes”Posted by simon on January 13th, 2009

Saying “Yes” has become a new pastime for me.  In years past I generally tend to say “No” to random activities simply because I don’t trust most people and their lack of planning ends up biting me in the ass somehow.  I’m not sure how recently but my guess is it’s been over the last year or so that I just started saying “Yes”.  Now, there are still things I say “No” to and most of them revolve around travel plans that consist of drinking in some other state.  There are certain people who will get grilled because I have been bitten in the ass by saying “Yes” to them far too often.

The situations I’m talking directly about are the ones that lead you to a Motocross event on a Sunday night, or 100 feet up in the air gripping onto a rock with 10 feet of slack just praying you make the next clip and you don’t plummet into a possibly very painful fall.  Maybe it’s the decisions that lead you to meet new people or end up in strange situations that most people wouldn’t feel comfortable putting themselves in.  Whatever the question so long as it isn’t going to do you any long term direct damage (and even some that will) it’s worth just saying, “Sure” and seeing where the wild winds of life take you.

I’ve found a life filled with “No” is generally one that isn’t worth living. If you live in an area and a culture where gangs and drugs are a big thing then maybe you will need to be saying “No” constantly but the people who will read this are not those people.  Denying yourself a Europe trip to save money for a necessary thing like a working car or something is one thing but doing it just to have the extra scratch sitting in a bank is not a good enough excuse for me anymore.  Every dollar I’ve spent on travel has been worth a thousand in new experiences, stories and enriched life.

It is a nice feeling to hear people say, “I wish I could do that” or “I wish I could see that”.  The sad thing is they can all they have to do is say I want to do that, rub some pennies together and go.  Now maybe I am speaking from a position with a bit of affluence.  I do make a few dollars more then the average person but I know many people who work as waiters and still find the time and money to drop out of life for a month every 2-3 years and go travel Europe.

Maybe travel is too easy and too big of an example but the point is when something new gets brought to your doorstep, accept it and enjoy it. If you turn it away you may be cutting yourself off from a favorite new past time or a possible chance encounter with god knows who or what. Just be prepared to say yes to all the little things in life that you wouldn’t regularly consider and see where they take you.

“The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live.” – Flora Whittemore

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