All You Gotta Do is Say YES-es!

So, a few weeks ago, I planned a lovely weekend with some of my favorite girls. It involved meeting the family of one of my greatest friends over brunch, and it was, in fact, a remarkable day. During the event, I had the chance to meet new folks and, mostly, to revisit familiar faces and share in the company of people who have enriched my life journey since. One of those familiar faces was a Colombian girl, an acquittance, whom I knew no longer than a year, and yet, she had the best advice to give me that Sunday morning. We've talked about everything from education to nights out, from food to jewelry, to relationships ending and starting. Still, the thing that impressed upon me was what the introvert-looking, but extroverted Colombian said:

"Just say YES". You have to learn to say YES to everything when you are single."

I stopped a moment to reflect and replied, "I think I have been doing that"." I went home with her words on my mind. I went deep into reflection, and that didn't end that Sunday; in fact, it had only started. I really thought about the power of saying YES to EVERYTHING, or at least to most of it.

Weeks later, I realized that I was saying YES, YEAP, or YEAH to most things but lacked purpose behind it. I was simply replying, yes, and never thought about what it really meant. So I decided to be more strategic and observe every YES that came out of my mouth, really every single one! I then began saying YES and evaluating the consequences when I did it. The strategic part of it was simple; it was just about being conscious, I was saying yes and taking mental notes, and I observed what happened next. I'd say YES and monitor the results. I'd experiment and reflect upon it, and soon I'veI realized that was where all the magic happened. Indeed, I began noticing changes, I have enriched my life by 3 folds since I've begun noticing the results of my YESes. I have met new, fascinating people, I joined new networks, I did expontaneous things, and I had fun multiplied by 10 (that is to say, I had indescribable fun times!), I  welcomed professional and personal challenges I'dwhich otherwise have rejected out of fear, and probably missed out on learning opportunities.

(But) these are my experiences with saying YES. Saying yes can represent many things depending on personal lifestyle, choices, and current life stage. So, what if you were to be more conscious and observe what happens after each YES you let out? what happens when you notice the consequences? Does it significantly improve your life in any way? Or it doesn't change a thing? The answer is as personal as the experiment. I would like to acknowledge that saying yes can be rather . Ittricky might come with a certain degree of danger at times and be conflicting at others, but it can also turn out to be the best word that you will ever know.

Personallz, I suggest YES as an opportunity, an "Open, Sesame!" kind of word. It is worth pointing out that it is essential to be conscious and reflect when using yes because it will (most likely) taste differently when you do so.

Reflecting back, some "yeses" in my life meant shifting the course of my life entirely. Saying yes is the sole reason why I now live in Europe. When I met my now ex-boyfriend, we were in Miami, and we only knew each other for a few hours before he invited me for dinner (I know, a reckless kind of yes), but, had I said NO to dinner, I would have most likely stayed comfortably where I was. So saying yes meant living new, exciting things; for me, it meant moving to a brand new country and restarting from scratch.

This might or may not apply to your life right now, but the invitation here is to encourage you or anyone out there to consciously say yes once and notice what happens next. Perhaps by taking a more experimental view on your responses, you might be led to a YESself you'd never imagined, or you will be out of your comfort zone to experience things you've never considered possible.

Life might not change radically after all because NO is also the compromise to a balanced life, but saying more YESes at any given point in your life might be more enriching than often using NOs as protection shields. In addition, I'd say, use yes sparingly, abundantly, or in moderate quantities, but use it. Use it to challenge yourself because, as the sole captain of your "life" ship, you are responsible for deciding its course, yes or no?

Need inspiration? if you haven't yet, watch "YES MAN" featuring Jim Carey.

I would be eager to know that saying YES did as much good to you as it did to me and the Colombian girl I had had been so lucky to re-encounter that day.