How many times do you say ‘No’ a day? How
many times do you say ‘Yes’ a day?
A while back, I was reading Sadie
Robertson’s Book Live Original. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the
main message: “Imagine what would happen if You just said yes.” In the book,
she recalled an entire day where her grandfather said yes to every question
asked him.
When I first read it, I thought “That seems
kind of silly.” Yet the longer this thought has been in the back of my head,
the less silly it becomes and the more intriguing it is. How different would
your life look right now if you’d have simply said “Yes” more? Would you have a
completely different job? Be married? Be dating? Live in a different state or
even country?
I know that there are times we must say no,
I myself often have to! I’m not telling you that you should say yes to every
single question asked you throughout your entire life.
But I want to challenge myself. Maybe
to say yes to every single thing asked me for an entire day. I think in the
near future I’ll do that, and then record my results here.
How often do you say yes to you?
I often times say no to myself, and that’s
probably a good thing concerning a piece of cake or expensive boots. Quite
frankly sometimes it’s exhausting to have so much self control. For instance, I
got my hair cut this weekend! I took a total of six inches off, so it’s not
like I went to a pixie cut, but it’s a pretty big adjustment for someone who’s
had hair down to her waist for 2 years. Though it may sound silly, it was not
easy making the final decision to cut it.
I really despise making decisions. Big or
little, I overthink it and generally give myself a headache. But you know what?
I’m actually starting to slowly get better.
How? I’ve started saying “Yes”
to myself.
“What if I cut my hair? Would it look good?
Would people like it? Would I regret it? Should I spend the money?” I found
myself freaking out about it, so I just said yes. I just did it, I asked
myself, “What’s the worse that could happen?” and went for it.
On a more serious note, in August I took a
position at a camp I’d never been to. I didn’t know a single soul there. It was
honestly the first time I really did something all on my own. All of my
previous endeavors someone I knew had done them before me. I knew what to
expect.
But this time I was all on my own.
It was big and it was scary, and I could
have just said no and played my life on the safe side, but where’s the
adventure in that?
Instead of saying no, I simply said yes.
It did end up being quite intimidating: my
stomach hurt for the first week I was there because I was so stressed out
trying to learn everything and make good first impressions. However, as the
days and weeks passed, I became adjusted and able to relax. The months then
flew by and it was one of the best decisions I’ve made. I enjoyed my time at
camp: waking up everyday looking forward to going to work is an amazing
feeling! In the end, I’m so very glad I didn’t play it safe.
When I find that I have a difficult
decision ahead of me, I try to breath and imagine, “If I say yes, what’s the
worst that could really happen?” If the result isn’t catastrophic, I generally
go for it.
Do you have a big decision coming up? I
would encourage you to say “yes” and see what happens!
Are you stuck in a rut, a boring life
routine? Maybe seek out a decision to make. Change things up, that job you’ve
always wanted? Go apply! Dream vacation? Put away a little money each paycheck!
Always wanted to dye your hair? Go to the store and buy a box of color!
You got this. Just go for it. You never
know, simply saying “yes” could be the best decision you ever make.
That’s what life’s all about in my opinion:
jumping in, trusting God, and seeing what happens.
Happy Adventuring!
~Grace
Grace is a young blogger, camp counselor,
and adventurer from Southern Michigan. She's passionate about horses,
writing, tacos, camp, Jesus, and Jeeps.
