Beautiful balloon photo courtesy of Bairon Rivera.
It’s no secret I chase fear and adventure. But something that has been on my mind a lot lately is the power of saying YES (and NO).
NO to the things that aren’t taking me to where I want to go long term so I can stay laser focused… and YES to the things that will give me a great experience today and help me enjoy the journey along the way. If you wanna hustle hard for the long haul, you’ve got to find a way to enjoy the journey.
SOME OF THE BEST MOMENTS YOU CAN’T CONTROL (OR CREATE)
Saying YES vs. my obsessions for seeking out new adventures feels different to me. Adventures are usually conscious decisions I control and create.
YES decisions are opportunities that the universe cooks up delivers to me that I couldn’t predict, control, or usually re-create. Often once in a lifetime chances… use it or loose it chances.
This weekend was a long string of YES moments for me. It’s Monday and my face hurts from smiling and feeling jazzed about the last 72 hours. Who said Mondays can’t be stellar?
Although there were a lot of awesome moments (#SoMuchBootyShakin) my favorite results from a loooong string of YES moments that I couldn’t have predicted or created if I tried.
LIFE LIST MOMENT
For years I’ve always wanted to try acro yoga but I’ve always been incredibly intimidated. I thought I needed to have an epic amount of strength and be able to twist my bod into configurations that would make my granny blush. But, turns out you just need a kick ass partner and a f#ck ton of trust. #NoAbsOfSteelRequired 😉
And the universe cooked up the perfect opportunity for me check this bad boy off my life list this weekend. So many of you think I’m fearless but I’m not. I’m courageous. I do feel the fear but I move forward anyway. There is a big difference. And this was definitely one of those moments!
Full disclosure – I was prepared to bite it. But I said yes, and went all in anyway.
THE REAL SECRET TO HAPPINESS
What this experience reinforced for me was the power of tiny decisions on our everyday lives and how empowering they can be. Yeah, I love doing the big epic $hit too… but the confidence I felt when I made it in the air (and didn’t eat dirt) was beyond words for me. I couldn’t believe I did it after being scared and intimidated by something like this for so long. A small momentyes… but I felt so damn pumped!
And it was all possible because I said YES when I would have normally said NO.
I used to think that a great life came from these grandiose moments and big decisions (and some times they do). But what I’ve discovered over the last few years is that my happiness shot through the roof when I realized that grandiose moments come and go, but it’s tiny everyday decisions strung together that have created an incredibly fulfilling and happy life for me. Like, saying yes to acro yoga even when I was prepared to face plant.
HOW TO USE THIS IN YOUR LIFE
This week I have a simple challenge for you if you’re willing to accept.
Say YES just one time when you would have said no.
Give yourself the opportunity to lean into something new, something unpredictable or exciting. Stay out later instead of going home early. Hop on stage and sing karaoke. Shake your ass without caring who sees for once. Skip through the office, high five someone and make someone laugh just because you can. Flirt with a stranger or give someone that hot barista you’ve been checkin’ out for months your number.
Just once is all I’m asking. And notice how it feels to lean into a little moment that feels scary or out of the ordinary.
Your life is shaped by the tiny decisions you make everyday that stack up overtime. How you make decisions today will determine if you pivot toward a life that will make you happy and fulfilled or if you will look back and wonder where the time went. True happiness comes from finding small ways to find joy in every day – but it’s often our responsibility to look for opportunities to do that and also so YES when the universe asks more of us than who we already are.
None of us are making it out of this life alive. So let’s start having some damn fun (and often!), ya hear?
Let go of waiting for big grandiose moments you’re chasing to be happy and realize there are so many tiny opportunities in TODAY that can lead you to a fulfilling life while you’re building toward that big $hit too ya know? You think the goal at the end is the reward, but it’s the journey that you’ll remember after it’s all over.
And, I think you’ll be really surprised by where the little moments will take you and how much it makes your heart sing my friends. Those big moments will just be icing on the cake when you don’t need them to be happy anymore.
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