Picture a buffet filled with freshly-made food: crisp veggies, grilled chicken and fish, salad, and whole grain bread, but also creamy pasta salads, saucy wings, fried everything, and buttery garlic bread. Self-serve! We get to spoon whatever we want onto our plates. We’re choosing what we want, what we say yes to.
This is life itself, beautiful someone. When we say yes to something, what we’re really saying is, “I’m going to let that in,” whether that’s mouth food, brain food (thoughts, information, advice, inspiration), or whole body food (the experiences that shape our lives and who we become)…all of which we “consume.”
Saying yes to anything, including ideas, relationships, opinions, jobs, and even vacation plans is saying, “I believe this is worthy of space in my one precious head, heart, and body. I invite it in.”
Positive purpose
Short term, long term, or permanently, one of the key differences between any-old-yes and the yes that changes everything is positive purpose that makes whatever we’re letting in worthy of space in our lives.
Positive purpose makes for a yes that changes everything and invites joy into our lives by nourishing us with:
- Respect for the priorities of our lives
- Added value to our jobs and relationships
- Forward movement — progress and growth
- Inspiration that we then use to positively influence ourselves and other people
- Good health
- Strength
- A sense of pride
- New directions that expand our minds and hearts
Back to our buffet
The yes that can change everything is the good stuff: the salad, grilled chicken, whole-grain bread, and other foods we can put on our plates that are nutritious and filling, food that not only sustains us for today, but protects us from the harmful effects of unhealthy fats, refined sugars, and simple carbs. These are the yeses — the choices with positive purpose that nourish us — that change everything.
With this in mind, there are areas in our lives where we should always err on the side of yes:
- Our dreams
- Who we are (our authentic, whole selves)
- Genuine love (in all its forms)
- Good physical health
- Good emotional/spiritual health
- Good influence—leaving behind a positive legacy for others
- Causes we believe in
- Balance in our lives—not allowing anything to take over so much of our energy that we can’t bring our best to it