I was watching this show on TV and they talked about the yes philosophy. Sometimes we are too picky and we don't choose anything, we miss out on events which could have changed our life, we miss out on career opportunities when we get cold feet and we miss out on wonderful experiences which we will regret later on.
Two years ago my friends asked me to go to Rome with them. My first reaction was no because I did not have a job, so I did not have the money. I was also looking for an internship and that was the first time ever I was applying for jobs and I did not know what to expect. Now when I think back on this event I only regret that I said no that quickly. I did not have the money at that time but when I started looking for a job I got a job so quickly that I could have gone to Rome with my friends. But at that time it was too late because everything was already booked. Have I had more faith in me finding a job and combining my search for an internship and travelling together I would not have missed this opportunity.
This is one example of something that I have missed because my answer was no. There are more events in my life where I missed an opportunity because I did not have the faith in myself or did not think that what was asked was feasible or possible. I like to plan forward and I make judgments as I go, but I am not someone who will say YES without really thinking about all the possibilities. And this is where I will end up saying no. I think fear, shyness and the fear of failing is why we are likely to say no or come up with excuses.
I am pretty active and I enjoy being busy doing a lot of stuff but still I find myself saying no to people sometimes. So I want to make it a rule that I ALWAYS say YES to everything. "This world of "yes" is about recognizing that every person, thing, and event has something to offer in the growth of your own humanity, your life. It's allowing for the frightening but liberating prospect that everything can be interpreted as important, beautiful, interesting, or worth considering".
It is so easy to say no because you are not committing yourself to anything, so for me this will be a great change knowing that now I am open to everything and all the possibilities that are coming my way. Life has a way of making things work out for you and sometimes we have to be open for change. Open to make new friends, open to meet new people everywhere, open to go everywhere and open to discover new things. One of my dreams is to travel the world, BUT I have a list of places that I do not want to visit. And it has to do with a lot of things but when I think about it all those things are excuses because I am afraid to get to know the unknown, a world that is different than mine, and that is strange because that is all what traveling is about.
I realized I am holding myself back and I am not being true to myself and using all my potentials. Being introvert in an extrovert world I feel like when I say YES I am forcing myself to do something I do not want sometimes. With a different perspective to things I will say yes now because I accept my fears and I am willing and able to deal with it to make myself a better person.
I feel like 'the yes philosophy' will get me where I have to be in life right now. I am ready, I am not afraid to say yes, I know I can do this, I know that I have all that is necessary to do everything that comes my way because otherwise it would not be there for me.
I said yes to moving to the Netherlands all by myself a couple of years ago, I said yes to being independent, I said yes to the healthy lifestyle, I said yes to working out, I said yes to doing 1000 squats, I said yes to drinking smoothies, I said yes to having my hair natural after 13 years, I said yes to moving to another city, I said yes to finding a new job and now I am saying YES to life. I am accepting every opportunity that life has to offer to me without being too picky, without finding new excuses, without settling and without fear. You can do this Debby!
