Yesterday was one of those days where saying ‘no’ felt easier than saying ‘yes’ but where pushing myself to go against that and say, if not ‘yes’ so at least ‘why not’, resulted in a much more positive outcome than I’d thought possible.
It was the perfect example of how sometimes we need to do the things that makes us a little uncomfortable. The things that create a bit of resistance on the inside as soon as we get asked the question. More often than not we’re scared or worried about the outcome of saying ‘yes’. It can be as simple as thinking we might not be very good company because we’re too tired, or that we are worried that we’ll be out for too long. But most of the time those worries can easily be cleared by being honest and setting the right expectations with people.
But saying ‘yes’ or ‘why not’ is also about bigger things than that. Like daring to follow through on that line of thought you have about making a dream come true. To dare to test something and see what happens and to not make it into such a big thing. After all, what is the worse thing that can happen? Well, if you think hard about something, probably quite a lot and that’s why we shouldn’t always think so much.
The more we think about whether or not to do something the bigger a thing we make it into. By investing time and energy debating in favour or against something the harder the decision often becomes to actually determine what to do and which side that so to speak should win. After thinking about pros and cons saying ‘yes’ is all of a sudden even more scary than it was initially and makes us loose track of what we actually want.
Discussing these kind of matters with relevant others can often help to look at it differently. To peel of the layers and break it down to what it actually is about and bring it back to where it all started. The more we can break something down to its simplest idea, the reasons behind it, or into manageable tasks – something we can relate to and feel is achievable – the more inclined we’ll be to do it and to find out if it’s right or not. We might not feel a 100% sure or ready to say a loud ‘yes’ but asking ourselves ‘Why not’, or even answering ‘Why not’ when asked to give it a go, might be all it takes to all of a sudden have come one step closer to achieving your dream. And whether that’s done with a forced smile and ignoring a sense of panic on the inside in terms of what’s going to happen next, it doesn’t really matter. At least not in most cases. We live and learn and as a general rule in life we tend to get more back by being a bit daring and open to things. And to that, answering ‘Why not’ with a smile can take us to many great places.
Tomorrow – Day 256 |
Image source: www.flickr.com/photos/petereed/496392956
