Yes.
Yes is the word we should be using very often, unfortunatelly, it too often gets smothered by a hesitant maybe.
Maybe.
Oh, that would be nice. Maybe, yes. It would be so lovely. If only. Just imagine how my life would change. Someday. One day. Soon.
Without question we need to say yes to more and more things in my life. Not recklessly of course, but enough to push our comfort and explore possibilities we otherwise never take. You see, when you don’t allow for maybe, you have to make a real decision. Maybe is not a decision at all. Maybe becomes a stall tactic that lets time and circumstances decide for us and robs us of our freedom of what could have been.
Could have been is important. Our future depends on a definitive answer, but we are afraid to take a stand. We have been taught and have habitually learned that we cannot be faulted for our mistakes if we didn’t wish to make those mistakes in the first place. We prefer to blame others, or the economy, or the president of the United States for much of our struggle. But what if you could say yes?
Yes to the possibilities you see but never had the never to pursue? Yes to a life lived more fully? Yes to being an even greater human being?
You need to say yes.
Get rid of the word maybe from your vocabulary. Live with the precept that if someone wants an answer right now it is always no, but if you are given the time, try to find a yes, or reach a concluding no, but never, ever hang your life on a maybe.
Maybe leads to regret. Maybe leads to doing things over and over again. It leads to waiting. To believing that dreams do come true but for other people. Maybe leads to watching life pass you by instead of living it to the fullest. It leads to passivity. It leads to complacency. It leads to regret, and pain, and frustration.
Yes.
Apply the use of yes liberally to your life. It will be scary at first. It will feel strange and you’ll be uncomfortable, but the more you do it, the more you will let go and the more you will feel the amazing possibilities that pass you by because you wait too long.
You don’t have to wait to make New Years resolutions or to undertake any major changes in your life. Simply learn to say yes.
Say yes to a concert of an unknown artist you’ve never seen or know anything about. Say yes to taking a music lessons and painting classes. Say yes to a last minute coffee invitation. Say yes to every compliment you get. Don’t brush it off but accept it and build your life around it.
Say yes or say no. Both will serve you well and lead you to the same destination. But whatever you do distance yourself from maybe. Living in between is dangerous. It is a sure way of watching your life slip away from you.
Say yes and await the possibilities.
Cover photo generously provided by photographer Jon Tyson | https://unsplash.com/@jontyson
