If you had told me this time last year, as I was going into foot surgery, that in a year I’d be living in a beach house in St. Augustine, Florida I would have said, “St. Who?” What a difference a year can make. If you remember a few years ago, I posted an authentic online profile on a dating website and got married one year to the day it was posted. The work to make major life changes is often huge, but it usually starts with a single simple intentional action. For example, changing an online profile is simple – the work to merge lives is complicated. Creating a list of cities to visit in a four-month period is easy – moving to one of them is difficult.
A BIG “yes” to a ride on a beach cruiser!
So why do we get hung up when the opportunity arises to invite change into our lives? Because change is hard and because it’s easier to say, “no” to most things even if these things might make for happier living. Improvisers are trained to say, “yes” on stage. If you’ve ever watched a terrible improv show, you’ve seen how painful “no” can be to a stage performance. The scene falls flat. Nothing happens. It gets awkward for everyone – the actors and the audience. And that’s low stakes … well maybe not to the improvisers who are “dying” on stage! But, the reality is that no lives are being seriously affected by their choice to deny rather than accept. Sure they’re having a crappy performance and audience members will never get that ticket money back, but in the big picture of life, it doesn’t matter.
Now take that denial off stage. This is when lives could be negatively affected and when personal and professional growth can come to a standstill. What if I never put up that authentic online dating profile because I thought it would never work? What if I thought it was just a ridiculous dream to move the beach? I might still be living with 22 cats, my ex husband and juggling three jobs in East Denver. Think too about smaller opportunities to say, “yes.” I’m an avid travel hacker. I’ve booked 22 flights in the past year and I’ve paid for only two of them. If I said “no” to travel hacking because it requires time and energy I may not have taken so many trips last year. What if the one trip I didn’t take was the one to St. Augustine? I’d be in a snowstorm in Denver, a long way away from my little St. Augustine house that sits 489 steps (yes, I’ve counted) from the beach.
Next year, I’d like to create energy around three areas:
- The Adventure Project – I’m stepping away from creative conferences, retreats and camps to create in my new location using the tools I’ve picked up at these events, so I can host my own play adventures. (I’m saying, “yes” to staying still.)
- Personal relationships – I’m focusing on offline, old fashioned in person activities to develop friendships – and build community — where I live. (I’m saying, “yes” to every social invitation I receive.)
- Travel – As last year was focused on North America, this year I want to get back to my tradition of visiting a place I’ve never been in a country I’ve never been as travel adventures help us learn, grow and gift us with a new perspective. (I’m saying, “yes” to one new place.)
So what’s one small intentional step that you can say “yes” to in 2016? Drop me a line and let me know.
