Yes

Yes

There is a song we sing at the church I go to and I don’t remember all of the words but for the chorus, we just keep repeating the word “Yes”.  I love this song and I love the feeling of singing the word yes over and over again.  I can’t help but feel my spirits lift.  Yes is such a wonderful word.  Who doesn’t like to hear it?   It  can be positive “Yes, you did a great job”, it can be encouraging “Yes, you can do it, I know you can”, it can signify agreement “Yes, you are right” and it can mean understanding and compassion “Yes, I know you are in pain.  I can’t imagine what it must be like”.   It’s a word of comfort, a word of consent, a word of confirmation.

What would happen if we all decided to say yes to everything just for one day?  Would it be freeing for you to let down your walls and let whatever life brings you just come on in?  Or does it feel scary to think of saying yes to everything?   What if you end up doing things you don’t want to do or you get too busy because you couldn’t say no to any requests.  What if you end up having to be compassionate where you have been angry and bitter?  

Thinking about my own mindset lately, I am going to imagine what tomorrow will look like if I say yes to everything that comes my way.  Not a lot is coming my way since we are in isolation so maybe I will modify this to saying yes when it comes to making a decision about self-care.   Something I seem to rebel against almost daily. 

The alarm goes off and I am faced with my first decision of the day.  Am I getting up or hitting the snooze button?  Yes, I am getting up.   Am I going to exercise?  Yes, I am going to exercise.   Am I going to shower or not?   Yes, it’s time to get in that shower.  And so it goes.  I decide that yes, I am going to have a healthy breakfast and agree that jujubes and a can of Coke is not healthy.   I sit down in front of the computer and decide that yes, I am going to write, and not play computer games all day.   I say yes to a healthy lunch, instead of potato chips. 

As the day goes on I start to notice a shift in the way I feel.  My attitude is starting to change and I realize that I am feeling happier.   I am up early, I am clean, I am fed and I am sitting at the table being productive.   How great is that?  

And then it goes deeper.   When the annoying woman from church sends me yet another unsolicited missive about the minutiae of her daily life, instead of hitting delete I decide that yes, I will read it.   And I am surprised that it is well written and entertaining.  When my partner asks if I would like to go get the mail, I say yes, I would love to go out in the real world.  And the walk in the fresh air does me good and I spend another few hours writing.   When the phone rings I decide that yes, I will answer it instead of letting it go to voicemail, and I offer comfort and a soft shoulder to a friend who is struggling.   Finally, at the end of the day when my partner asks if I am coming to bed, I say yes, and go up with her, instead of zoning out to the late news and the late-night talk shows.   As I climb into my bed, I realize I have had a very pleasant and productive day.   And I fall into a sound sleep.

Yes, I realize this is pretty simplistic.   But for just one day, it’s not a lot to ask of ourselves, is it?  To be positive and open? 

So, yes, this pandemic really sucks, but we are safe and healthy.   And yes, we don’t know what’s going to happen down the road but right now we can decide what to do with each day we are given. 

And yes, the provincial and federal government and all of our front line workers are doing a damn good job of getting us through this difficult time and we are so lucky to be living in Canada.

So just for one day, allow yourself to say yes, to love and to joy and to gratitude and see what happens.