“I believe that ‘yes’ is the only living thing.” —E.E. Cummings
This is Tip #5 (of 7) in my Wholehearted Living Series. You’ve done a lot of work so far! In the last 4 Tips, you have gotten snuggly with your Past Lives and embraced your Human Super Power – Choice. You’ve started practicing and feeling Gratitude, and most recently, in Tip #4, you started listing your Core Emotional Values. It’s time to take some more action! Here we go.
Say Yes to every person, activity and opportunity that generate the feelings you love the most!
Whoa! Whoa! Wait a minute. Say, “yes,” to EVERYTHING? That’s crazy. I’ll be exhausted.
True. And no. I’m not advising you to say, “yes,” to EVERYTHING. That would be crazy. I’m inviting you to really consider what you say, “yes” to.
This is about boundaries, my Friends. True, deep, nourishing, nurturing boundaries.
So often we overload ourselves. We say, “yes,” to too many things. We use “yes” as a way to say, “I like you,” or to protect ourselves by making other people like, appreciate, value (use) us. Some of us really need to practice saying, “no.”
So what the heck am I talking about here?
Review the last Tip. What are those AWESOME FEELS that you want more of? Take a look at your list. In fact, tape your list to your refrigerator or lipstick it onto your mirror. Get really familiar with those feelings. And say YES to anything that generates (or that you think MIGHT generate) those feelings.
Let the other stuff go. Learn to say no to what doesn’t matter, to what makes you feel depleted, to those people who are using you. Learn to say NO to fear-based YESSING. And say a resounding YES to courageous acts of wonder.
Here’s the other side of the YES/NO game. Some people say “yes” way too often. Others say “no” more than they need to. Fear-based YESSING has a cousin. Her name is, you guessed it, fear-based NOING.
“Everything you want is on the other side of fear.” —Jack Canfield. (I just couldn’t help adding this quote – it’s too good).
Truth. This applies to those fantastic feelings too.
Here’s the thing. Fear isn’t a bad thing, and you may have some fear that will continue to bubble inside of you. That’s OKAY. So often, when feeling fear – we think that feeling our fear feelings might just destroy us. I’ll tell you something…they won’t. AND that doesn’t mean fear is a comfortable thing to feel. It just means that you can walk through many fears (feeling them all the way) and discover some KNOCK DOWN BANG UP FANTASTICNESS on the other side.
So, say YES. Even if you’re scared. If you need help moving through and getting beyond, talk to a friend, a parent, your dog. If you need more help, hey, call me. That’s what I’m here for, and it’s one of the things I do best.