It's been a while since I've written a blog. You could say writers block, but it's more accurate to say life got in the way. That's a pretty rubbish excuse I know!
I was inspired to pick up my (virtual) pen and get writing again following a chance meeting at the weekend. I met a lovely person called Alex (you know who you are!) and we got chatting, and it turns out Alex read one of my first ever blogs, and remembers it! That was a really great feeling.
About a year ago I started doing things slightly differently in my life, you'll know what I mean if you've read my earlier blogs. I made one small change to my life, I embraced one small word, I answered life's questions with 3 letters instead of 2. I started to say Yes more!
It may sound trivial, it may sound silly, but I can assure you it's been a life changer. No, really it has! There's no complicated system behind this life changing regime, in fact there's no regime. It's just a state of mind. It's a conscious decision to allow more opportunity into your life.
Do you want to learn new things? Yes. Do you want to meet new people? Yes. Do you want to open your eyes to things, and places and events that could just have easily passed you by? YES!
It really is as simple as that. And its proving to be a really interesting new way of looking at the World. I started saying yes more because I wanted to put myself out of my comfort zone a little more often. I needed (and still do) to challenge myself to become more open to new things, and to new people.
Most people who know me would probably say I'm a fairly confident, outgoing and sociable person. That certainly was the case, but in recent years I've found it harder and harder to keep up that facade, and that's a bit rubbish to be honest. I've found myself saying no to more and more in life, it seemed the easier option. It's not, I can tell you that for sure now.
Now this whole idea of saying yes is by no means my idea, I've quite openly stolen it. Maybe stolen is a bit too strong, I've borrowed it. I've taken it as a gift from someone who has been saying it a lot longer than I have, and I know he doesn't mind. In fact, he's happy to share it with anyone.
Say Yes More is the work of Dave Cornthwaite. Check him out, and you'll see what is possible in life if you just say yes.
So that's enough of my rambling on about saying it, who wants to know what I've been saying yes to? I've said yes to quite a few interesting opportunities recently, and I'd like to share one with you here.
A few weeks ago a friend tempted me with an offer on Facebook. "Want to take part in a fun film project?" That was the only detail, but it was enough. With certain people in life you just know that whatever it is they have planned, it's going to be great fun and a little out of the ordinary. Needless to say I said Yes!
A week later I was taking shelter from the rain in a car park in Bath. Thankfully it didn't rain all day. By 9.30am there were 7 of us sheltering from the rain, and we'd all come armed with the one thing we were asked to bring along.... a sign that read "Free Hugs"!
The mastermind behind this little jaunt was Tristan Bawn, someone I'd met a year ago by saying yes to another invitation. Proof if it were needed that saying yes leads to new friends. Tristan wanted to see if the good people of Bath wanted a hug, and he was armed with a couple of video cameras to record the results!
The concept was a simple one. Stand in the street holding up your "Free Hugs" sign, smile and wait. We didn't have to wait very long! There were quite a few quizzical looks, and a fair few people that looked at us with suspicion. What were we selling? What cult did we belong to? What did we want from them?
The answer was simple, we weren't selling anything, we weren't going to indoctrinate them into a sadistic cult and we weren't signing them up for anything. It really was as it said on the tin (sign), it was just free hugs for the sake of free hugs.
And once people got their heads around it, we were kept pretty busy! Some people ran up and hugged for fun, some took it as an opportunity for a selfies, and other really needed that hug. And I mean they really needed it.
I had a hug from a lady who was just out doing her shopping, "Oh, I really needed that" she said, "I haven't had a hug all week". Good job we were there then! In fact that was quite common. Imagine not having anyone to hug?
We handed out free hugs all morning, to all sorts of people, from all sorts of places. I hugged people from Tazmania and Brazil!
I also met new people. People I wouldn't have met had I said no to Tristan's offer. I met strangers that have now become friends. And that makes me smile.
It's funny how you can start off a week feeling low, lacking self confidence and wanting to hide from the world, and then you can end the week by meeting a group of new people and then standing in the street offering hugs to hundreds of strangers. You see this yes thing really is quite powerful!
The hours of footage are still being edited, so I'm yet to see the final film of our day of hugs, but we did make the local paper! You can read an account of our little adventure here.
Life is what we make it, and our future is the result of hundreds and thousands of decisions. We all make good ones, and we all make bad ones, I've made a few! But opportunities lay all around us, and they are there for the taking, you just need to invite them into your life. You need to say Yes!
My life is already filling up with new friends, new experiences and new opportunities. And for that I need to thank the people that have inspired me to be brave, to get off the sofa, to get out of my comfort zone and to look forward. You all know who you are, so thank you. And please keep asking the questions, because I'm ready to keep saying yes!
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