28 Jan The Power of YES: How Agreeing Can Change Your Life

Saying YES can be intimidating. It’s as if we’re changing our entire lives with one little word.

And indeed, each time we commit to something new and uncomfortable, we shine a light into our shadow side and move into our resistances, making us more dynamic, more balanced and ultimately, more at home within ourselves and the world.

So this year, we have an invitation for you…

Stop hiding behind the word “No” and say “Yes” as much as you possibly can.

No longer let fear or ego be the primary guiding forces of your life. Surrender yourself, moment to moment, with the belief that each and everything you meet is a key to your awakening, if only you would say YES.

When we agree to participate in (and make room for) the things that are trying to make their way into our world — whether enjoyable or unenjoyable, easy or challenging — we create vast spaciousness within ourselves and our lives. We begin releasing our constricting grip on life, and learn how to move in flow, as if we are being led from one abundant moment to the next.

Synchronicities start to occur, and before we know it, we experience ourselves living a magical existence where everything we need just appears and the next step is obvious.

Of course, we can’t say yes to everything. We have real responsibilities to attend to, and only 24 hours in a day. The idea is to start saying YES to the things you would normally shy away from out of fear, nervousness, stress, discomfort, busyness or any other experience of limitation and resistance.

Challenge yourself to change your patterns this year — change how you meet the world — and see what happens.

Here are some things to start saying YES to!

• Say YES to that awkward thing that challenges your comfort zone. Invitations, opportunities, and intrigues that present themselves to you (especially recurring ones) are direct invitations from the Universe to move closer to your highest and best self.
• Say YES to any interesting impulses that may lead you somewhere fresh and exciting. Take a new route home from work, send an unexpected message to the person who just popped up in your mind, approach that person you feel drawn to at the party and give them a compliment.
• Say YES to help. Even if you don’t really need it (and especially if you do), amazing things happen when we come together with others.
• Say YES to talking with new people. Open yourself up in your everyday experiences. Start with a smile, and take it from there.
• Say YES to your children whenever possible — especially when they ask to create something, explore something, or play outdoors.
• Say YES to your boss. Instead of complaining about a task, embrace it and soar.
• Say YES to your body. If you have an urge to eat healthier, do it! Right then and there. Instead of reaching for that ice cream, grab an apple, and see how it feels. Take up a new form of movement. Embrace your natural hair. Embrace your no-makeup face. Breathe deeply. Laugh wholeheartedly.
• Say YES to vacation days. Your company gives these days to you, but no one is going to beg you to take them. You’ve earned this glorious time off, and everyone in the entire world will be better off when you give it to yourself.
• Say YES to nature. Want to go on a walk but it’s raining or freezing outside? Go anyway. Embrace all sides of the natural world, and discover the secrets these new experiences hold for you.
• Say YES to your feelings. Don’t indulge or resist your emotions, but allow yourself to accept them. Feel them fully, and meet yourself exactly where you are.
• Say YES to travel. Any opportunity you get, take it! You will never regret taking an adventure that helped shape the rest of your life (even if it did stretch your wallet a bit at the time).
• Say YES to charity. We all get those emails and Facebook notifications about making small donations to causes we believe in. Do it! As often as you possible can. $5-20 may not seem like a lot to you, but investing in a cause you love does a world of good for the world, and your self.
• Say YES to love. Above all else. Above anger, frustration, jealousy, and sadness, embrace the love that is everywhere in your life. Give yourself over to it fully this year. Make it your most important goal. Say “I love you” even more often, and mean it even more truly.

Have one you don’t see listed here? Let us know what you’ll be saying YES to this year!