The other night we rented Yes Man.  It was a Jim Carey movie that came out in 2008.  The premise of the movie is that Jim Carey is a mid-level bank executive, going no where fast.  His wife left him for undisclosed reasons (or if they disclosed them, I’ve forgotten what it was).  He has stopped answering his phone or going out with his friends.  He meets a friend, who talks him into going to a meeting run by the Yes Guru.  At this meeting he’s convenienced that he needs to say yes to anything that’s offered him.  The movie follows the chaos that takes over, and the good things that happen, to him because he said yes to something or someone.  I’m not a Jim Carey fan, and didn’t have high hopes for this movie, but it was marginally kid friendly, and we have exhausted Red Box’s inventory of kid friendly movies.

It has caused me to thinking about how much I say “no.”

Over the last five or six years, with the BoyChild’s behaviors being unpredictable, and the GirlChild being so awful, we have said “no” to things much more than we’ve said “yes.”  It was hard to plan anything because we never knew how one or both the kids would be.  We got into the habit of saying “no” far more than we said “yes.”  While it was happening, I don’t think we were very aware of it.  It just.  Happened.  We would get invited to things.  We’d say no, or worse yet, say yes and then have to call and cancel.  Or even worse we’d go and have to leave.

I think we’ve gotten into the habit of saying “no.”  I know I have but it feels like it’s become our automatic answer anymore.  It feels more comfortable than saying yes.  It’s not good.

I’ve decided I’m going to say “yes” more.

I started tonight.  I went to the meet and greet for my 30 year class reunion.  No one was asking me to, but I knew it was going on tonight.  I’d not signed up because last Spring when they were planning it, things were in such chaos, so I said “no.”   I decided I didn’t have any reason not to go.  I went.  It was good.

I’m going to make an effort to say “yes” more.