Just Say "YES!"



Just finished my second book by Chris Guillabeau (The $100 Start-up) which I liked very much. Good info, great ideas. One of Chris's core values is to "Say, Yes!" He admits that this flies in the face of traditional biz practice which says, "Guard your time," "Guard yourself," "Say NO!" and, in general practice the art of narcissistic stinginess.

My vacation-time read (loved family camp!) was William (Bill) Shatner's, "Up Till Now." (did you know I was going to marry Bill when I was 8? That was the plan, but different story..). One of Shatner's core values is to "Say Yes!" to whatever opportunities come his way. Because of this he's had an incredibly long, successful and diverse career and personal life.

I think it's easy in life to be stingy, get stingy, live in stingy-ville. I'm gonna get mine is the philosophy de jour. Introspective naval gazing, iow, it's all about me and my naval, has hit all time highs with "social media" (reality check- you don't have "friends" on social media- you have a computer) but there I go be stingy in my assessment of social media (reality check: I love social media- it rocks on so many levels. I just want to be sure I understand what it is, rather than believe what I'm told it is).

In one of my paper's for seminary I wrote, "People want, hope, to be invited in, to be invited to serve, to minister, to have their gifts and passions and skills utilized and valued, to be part of the fellowship." The prof wrote exclamations after these statements, and made statements to the effect of, Wow! They'd never thought of that before.

I'm often shocked at people's stinginess. Often. We invite folks coming and going. We invite even when it's inconvenient. But the reality is that it's not always reciprocated. Which stings. "Cause stingy and stinging are kinda part of the same thang. But then I have to get over myself and leave bitterville behind, and be, as Hivers say, and my friend Caitilin reminds me to be, the bigger person.

It's Advent and the real reason for the season is the recognition that we are waiting.And it doesn't make sense on so many levels. Christianity, and a life of faith, is paradox upon paradox. We say "Yes!" to a baby, born in poverty, on the run, unwelcome in his own community because of his mother's scandalous pregnancy. And when we do, we are changed, transformed, challenged and pruned. And in the end, the baby becomes the King. We say Yes to one thing and amazing opportunities present themselves.

I'm saying "Yes!" to some areas in my life that are challenging, difficult and make me nervous. Seriously, I hate doing stuff I don't know how to do. But saying Yes often entails doing lots of stuff we don't know how to do. So, I'm going to bite the bullet, face the fear and say Yes. I'm not sure of the outcomes, or the success or any of the unknowns. I just don't know. And that can be stifling and stagnating, too. But as I evaluate the last year, and make plans for the coming year, it's time to say "Yes" to some things. Maybe it will be t he year of the Yes....

What are you going to say "YES!" to in this coming year?