Just Say Yes

    Wow, has it really been almost a year since I last posted?  A lot has happened.  I spent most of my days at the beach with Bear last summer, I got a 4.0 in the Fall 2020 Semester, I began my second to last semester (I think) at BMCC, COVID still exists, I have become more of a hermit than ever.  Which brings me to the reason for this post.  I am in a Liberal Arts Capstone course this semester at BMCC and one of our assignments this week was to pick a day and say "Yes" to every request that is posed that day.  This was an interesting concept and could offer up more opportunities for growth, networking, and advancement in my desired career.

The Plan

    So, as I was reflecting over this assignment, I thought, "Crap, there are not a whole lot of requests that I get in a day."  Well, after much thought, I decided that I would say yes to a few requests a day that I normally would not say yes to.  My thought was that after doing the assignment this way, I would have more material to reflect on and "get" the point of the assignment.

The Requests and Outcomes

    Monday I said yes to starting my note-taking for two of my classes so I could stay on task.  I, also, said yes to working out that evening.  Both of these actions made me feel accomplished for the week, even though it was only Monday.  I even was prompted to fill out my planner for the week with a checklist on what I wanted to accomplish homework-wise each day.  I was able to plan how many runs I wanted to do at the gym and with Bear.  I, also, said yes to waking up at 6am every morning for the rest of the week.

    Tuesday I felt excited as I work up at 6am to begin my day with coffee, however, I got to work and my emotional state quickly fell apart.  I was upset, moody, and weepy all day.  I got home after work and decided that I would not be saying yes to my homework, taking Bear for a run (we still went out), and going to the gym.  All in all, it was a rough day emotionally and I just sat in my armchair watching TV until it was acceptable to go to bed.  I guess you could say that I said yes to going to bed early.

    Wednesday, emotionally I was better.  But I was still tired.  I woke up at 6am like I had promised myself on Monday.  I went to work and after some serious discussion about my mental health with my coworkers, decided that I would be posting my main posts for the week on the discussion boards that I had not completed in my classes and then veg out again with the TV and going to bed early.  

    Thursday, I felt 100% better emotionally and physically.  I was ready to face another day of saying "yes."  The opportunity came when I got home from work and said yes to a 3.5-hour study session.  I, also, said yes to watching and participating in my church's Maundy Thursday service broadcast.

    Finally, Friday came.  My work week of yes was almost over and I had already planned on saying yes on homework all afternoon (since I got out of work at noon).  My opportunity to say yes happened before noon.  My friend wanted to know if we had dinner plans with our group that evening.  We didn't, but I was able to say that yes I would go to dinner.  At dinner, we were discussing the Iroquois Hotel that burned down in Sault Ste. Marie in 1907 and were wondering where it was.  After much Googling (which did not have the best results), my friend asked if I wanted to walk around and search for it.  I said yes again.  We had fun walking around downtown Sault and trying to find a few places from historic photographs.

Reflections

    After saying yes to things all work week, I have been reflecting on what had happened.  Had I not said yes to begin note-taking on Monday, I would have had a lot more homework to do this weekend, the same if I hadn't committed to Thursday's 3.5-hour study session and Friday's afternoon to late evening study session.  If I hadn't said yes to the dinner on Friday, I would not have discovered more historical sites in the Soo nor would I have had the idea for a historic building/landmark then vs now blog post (stay tuned for this over the summer).  And finally, even though I didn't think about saying yes on Tuesday and Wednesday, I did say yes to having two days to relax and unwind even if they weren't productive or filled with homework.  The moral?  Say yes more.  It gets you out of your comfort zone and opens up the door for opportunities.