Life becomes fun when you start saying yes

A while ago I mentioned that I wanted to shift from saying no to things that I don't want (which is a necessary emptying out) to saying yes to things that I do want. I prayed for things to show up that I would be able to say a true yes to--things that I would feel happy doing. And lo and behold, my prayer was answered.

First, a friend invited me to go to a Wednesday night gathering in Sebastopol called the Love Choir. A group of musicians and non-musicians gather together to sing mostly old hippy songs from the 60s and 70s. My first reaction was to say no, but then I stopped myself. Why was I saying no? I like to sing, and while I'm not great at it, I'm not too bad either. I can carry a tune. When I'm happy I automatically sing in the shower. Maybe it would work the other way around too. Singing would make me happy. And it did! The music was good; the people were loving; and I had a blast. I believe this was one of those breakthrough moments. From this point on, my life shifted from being a hellish nightmare of things I didn't want, to an exciting adventure of new, fun things coming into my life. And abundance came into my life as well.

The next day I opened the mailbox and there was a card from a generous friend, with two gift cards--one for gas and one at Safeway. Yes! I spent a wonderful hour buying things that I hadn't been able to by in a long time. Then my hair colorist called to ask if I would consider doing a trade with her. She was looking for a name for her new salon and asked if I would do research to come up with one. She gave me the parameters and while I wasn't sure I could be that creative, I said yes. Within a day I had found the perfect name for her, and the next day I was getting pampered at her salon--something I thought I could no longer afford.

That wasn't the end of it. My network chiropractor called to ask me if I would do a trade with her. I hadn't been able to have a session with her for months due to lack of funds. The trade was something totally fun. I would host a booth at the Santa Rosa Farmer's Market the end of the month. How perfect.

To my surprise the only challenge I had was when my landlord/house mate asked me to move out, as our living together really wasn't working for either of us. Still, I found that I could say a resounding yes to that, from the deepest part of my being, despite the fact that I had no cash and no place to go to. Within a day I met a woman who had written a spiritual book that needed editing. She offered me a place to stay for a month in addition to a payment. It's a lot of work but it's work that I enjoy, that I feel serves a purpose. And so I happily said yes to her offer.

Switching from saying no to saying yes continues to bring wonderful things into my life, things that give me joy and that are in sync with my values. Not only am I using talents that I know I have, but I am beginning to use talents that I didn't know I had. I had no idea I could be creative enough to come up with a new name for a salon. But I did it, and my comfort zone got pushed out a little more, and now I am willing to try more new things. What else can I say yes to?