“The
Year of YES”
The word
“enthusiasm” comes from the Greek word “entheos” which means the God within.
And the happiest, most interesting people are those who have found the secret
of maintaining their enthusiasm, that God within.
Earl Nightingale
I don’t believe in New Year’s
resolutions. They feel punitive and
self-defeating to me and they always seem to imply we inherently feel we are
doing something wrong and must fix ourselves.
I no longer subscribe to this self-flagellating ritual, doomed to fail
that sets a tone of defeat at the beginning of every year. What I do subscribe to is a theme for the
coming year, a mantra of sorts. Think of
it as a gift you give yourself. I have
decided that 2022 will be my year of YES.
This year I plan to say “yes” more… to healthy things.
For example, I was doing karate up until
I went into rehab in July. I came out of
rehab in August and have been slowly rebuilding my life. I have not wanted to over-load myself
since. My schedule felt in balance for a
while and work felt right etc. Then last
week, after a number of attempts to encourage me to come back, the karate
instructor reached out to me again and asked if I would be interested in coming
back in January. I said “yes”. I moved my work schedule around a little so I
won’t sacrifice any of the meetings I regularly attend, and I said yes.
I have a new group of friends and we are
determined to keep each other connected and have fun doing it. We have a list of things to do when we need a
pick-me-up, things to look forward to that we can pepper our calendar with
throughout the year. I am the keeper of
the list and it contains things like axe-throwing and snow-tubing. We have gone bowling and to a hockey game and
had a Friendsgiving dinner. I have to
get it together now the holidays are over and start figuring out what the next
thing will be, but these are all things to say YES to!
I figure if it isn’t something toxic for
me and I can reasonable afford to do it, I will say yes to it. I have already joined a book club and love
that I have. Life is already richer for
it. I have more things to look forward
to, more connections have been made, more conversations have been had and more
smiles have come across my face and I suspect many more will come. Memories will be made and laughter will
likely be had. All this by uttering a
three letter word. Yes.
While I was in rehab, there was a lady
there who had an infectious laugh. She
was one of those people who had a large presence but came in a small
package. She was always impeccably
dressed and I asked her one day how many outfits she had brought with her (I
had about four changes of clothes for 30 days).
She had brought two large suitcases with her and had coordinating
jewelry for every outfit. She told me, “If
I have to be here, I’m going to look good doing it”. This lady was going to meet me at a meeting
the weekend before Friendsgiving and did not come. She was supposed to come to Friendsgiving but
did not come. There were other meetings
and events I am sure that she did not get to over the following weeks. Places she was supposed to be, people she was
supposed to meet up with and did not.
The day after Christmas she got into a car accident related to this
terrible illness we share and she passed away.
I can’t help but think there were so many yesses she did not say over
those weeks that might have helped steady her.
So many yesses that might have given her a little more strength, yesses
that might have given her the connection and hope she needed. She is sorely missed. Her funeral is on Friday and I will be there
to honor the space she filled on this earth and the laughter we shared.
Say “yes” this year and see what it
brings into your life. I’m going to.
AFTERTHOUGHT: On New Year’s Eve I had dinner with a good
friend. Over dinner we broke open Christmas
crackers (poppers here in the states).
The silly paper hats, the stupid dad jokes, the “prizes” (neither of us
got the shoe horn) and charades. I don’t
think I have had that much fun doing charades with just two people before! Then I offered up the idea that we could make
shrink dink key chains… Because why
not? He said yes to that as though it
was one of the most natural things in the world for two adults to do on New
Year’s Eve. So we did. I think we were of that generation for whom shrink
dinks were one of the mysteries of the universe… There was nothing like watching your master
creation curl up via the light of the oven lamp and then flatten out as is
shrinks to 75% of its original size to a hardened version of its paper
self! Turns out it is just as miraculous
when you are 48 and 50. So I think it is
important to surround yourself with friends who say “yes” too.
