everyday adventure: the answer is yes

“I went to the movies ALONE today (happy?), and I was thinking about you a lot: the main character has to say ‘yes’ to anything asked of him, and he ends up having a lot of fun and success thanks to his new openness.

“I started relating this theme to us: we both want to have fun together, but we haven’t often been able to. A big reason for this is because you aren’t able to say ‘yes’ to a lot of things right now, even if you want to; you’ve been too tired, and you’re super committed to your work, causing you to work late and often on weekends. And of course you have a thing for always wanting to control decisions, preventing me from organizing anything.” (p. 403)

I get a lot of messages from friends and fans wishing they had the freedom to enjoy life and travel the way I do. When I’m out and about, I’m trying to mix in with the local life: I create opportunities to work, learn, teach, and simply have fun, by finding local cultural and social events, and the chance to interact with people. I visit parks. I go to markets. I chat, rather than rush from one place to the next. What so many people fail to see is that I (and they) could just as easily find this aspect of freedom in their towns; we often turn our back on simple pleasures in our everyday lives, because we don’t take the time to accept and appreciate the opportunities that are sitting in front of us.

When we start a relationship with someone new, we’re often hyper sensitive to every little detail, every little gesture, and we like to take advantage of every opportunity to do something fun. So why, as we become comfortable with someone, do we sometimes stop making that same effort to dress up; to ask them to go for a simple walk in the park; to enjoy an ice cream; to meet up with friends for dinner; to go out to a cinema or show rather than watch a dvd? Work or television can usually wait another day, but if we continually make excuses not to do things with the people we care about, they may eventually stop trying to convince us to join them in their enjoyment of life.

Getting out leads to opportunity, no matter where we may be. The only thing holding us back is our own lack of effort or motivation. So the next time you think about saying ‘No’ or ‘I don’t know’ to an invitation at home, imagine it as you would an exotic adventure in a faraway land, and don’t hesitate to say yes.