Yes.

These are my late grandparents as newly weds, playing on the beach in the Hamptons. We found this photo the morning after my grandmother lost her fight following quadruple bypass surgery, while we were still numb with grief, bundled with other equally sweet images of them as young lovers. As we sifted through their home we found caches of photos, letters, and treasure boxes cataloguing their life as friends, enemies, lovers, parents and most importantly: individual people. Surrounded by cryptic notes on scraps of paper and drunk love letters, we found ourselves heartsick and humbled at the depth of their partnership. My grandparents lived extremely full lives, travelled extensively and lived in over seven countries. Their lives were like magical stories when I was child, and I want to have a similar arsenal of tales when I get to be a wrinkled old lady. Which brings me to my the point of this post:

My grandfather had this amazing way of saying no, while making you believe he said yes. I remember him telling me once that "yes is one of the most powerful words a person can say to another, and to themselves." He was right. Check out this blog post The Power of Yes: A Simple Way to Get More Out of Life. The author makes solid points about how to begin living the life you want. A lot of times we find ourselves day dreaming about the things we want, with no idea of how to take the first step.

"We all have dreams, but most of us make excuses for not pursuing them. Often these excuses aren’t overt. It’s more a matter of inertia, of just ignoring the dreams, of maintaining the comfortable status quo. But you can break out of your comfort zone to get more out of life through the simple power of yes."

Let's wash our lives in a big bucket of Yes and see where it gets us, shall we?