The Miracle Of The Courage To Say Yes

Welcome, yet again. If you read the title and click on the link, you are already halfway there and you already have the courage to try and say yes to life, to yourself! Congratulations will be in order, so continue ahead with this short read.

Why Is It A ‘Miracle’ To Say Yes?

In a culture full of reasons to say “no”, it takes a lot of courage to find a way to say “yes.” After all, we have been taught to say “no” from a very young age. For most of us, our first word is “No,” and it quickly became our favorite word. In early childhood and adolescence, we use “no” to distinguish ourselves from our parents, peers, and the environment around us. This is how we begin to control what happens around us, or at least the way we try to control what happens around us. It helped us overcome those early developmental hurdles and gave us the earliest sense of personal boundaries, and this limited a lot of meaning in one little word!

The problem isn’t that “no” in itself is somehow bad; indeed, giving yourself permission to say “no” as an adult can keep you out of an awful lot of trouble. The problem is that “No” begins to take on a life of its own. Too often, that life is yours.

Life is a change, and the “no” becomes a way of slowing down this change or trying to stop it altogether. It is a shield we use to protect ourselves from having to experience anything new or different. Rather than riding the wave of change into a life full of exhilarating possibilities, we use “no” as a tether to keep us safely confined to the kiddie pool.

Using “No” to ward off changes is like a kitten lowering its head for cover, assuming it is completely hidden. Whether you refuse or not, changes will occur. And, just like that kitten, assuming “no” will protect you from change, is a sure-fire way to get it to bounce back on you and bite your tail.

Let’s be honest here: we often say “no” out of fear, and some fears are perfectly reasonable. It’s sensible to say “no” to jumping off a bridge or “no” to cake if you are diabetic. These “no’s” aren’t the ones that keep us from living lives of incredible satisfaction and happiness. It’s those silly, neurotic fears like fearing rejection, or of looking stupid or being wrong. It’s the fear of commitment, the fear of speaking out, and the fear of facing our truest, deepest desires. The list is nauseatingly long, and we’ve all bought into some of these at least once. These fears have shaped our lives, often to our detriment and sometimes to the detriment of those around us.

So the next time you’re faced with something new and exciting and all those little neurotic fears start rioting inside you, what does it take to fight down a “no” and say “yes” instead? In a word: courage.

Like the Cowardly Lion (an archetype for the fear-ridden) we need to find our courage. Unlike him, we know that we have to face our fears and find our courage within. Inside each of us beats a brave, fiercely courageous heart, willing to take on a challenge if it means that life afterward will be more authentic, happier, and freer. What better challenges to tackle than the fears that keep us chained to our tiny, boring, closeted little lives?

Do yourself a favor right now, identify and tackle at least one of those inner fears. Find a reason to say “yes” today and every day. What do you have to lose? Except for your inner coward?

Also read: 101 things to do when bored

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