Congratulations Lia!

Last week I went for lunch with two colleague acquaintances that I’ve stayed in touch with over the years, even though we no longer work in partnering companies. One of the two I see quite often, but the other I haven’t seen in about a year. We caught up on what he’s been up to and he told me about what he’s doing with his new company. He indicated that he wanted to introduce me to his partner at his company in the next few weeks – I said yes. I’m not sure what she wishes to discuss, it may be volunteer related, it may be an opportunity, I’m not sure yet. But I said yes anyway. This is not necessarily out of the ordinary though, for the most part I am open to lunches and coffees with people even if I don’t know whether our careers align or not. I find people interesting and I wouldn’t have found the jobs I’ve had over the years if I didn’t have some meetings with people that initially seemed unrelated. Yes, I should network strategically, but mainly I just network openly and see where it leads.

I have a big event coming up (marriage celebration reception, for lack of a better phrase) this coming weekend. Five days ago, I still didn’t have a dress. After much back and forth about a particular dress, and whether or not it could be altered, I returned to the department store where I had originally tried it on. The woman who worked at this particular counter was amazing and when I asked her about alterations she gave me a tip – to go down to the actual tailor/seamstress’s store, rather than call someone up to the department. She said I would likely get a better price (and the previous alteration quote was one of the reasons I didn’t buy it the first time). I did as she suggested and she was correct – this quote was half as much as the one I’d received two days prior. I said yes to her advice, yes to the quote, yes to the alterations and yes to that dress.

I had a couple of last minute invites over the weekend and said yes to them both. I hadn’t booked my time up too much and knew I could fit them in – especially as it is good friends, some of who were in town visiting for a brief time. Everything just worked; it was easy to say yes.

As I mentioned, this coming weekend will be a reception with my partner’s friends and family (as we eloped earlier this year). While I love a good party/reception/chance to see people, I often get a bit awkward about throwing the party. I think I’m struggling with the “being celebrated” part in some way. Here, look at us, we got married (as many people do all the time), and we want you to come and eat food – gifts optional. I’m not sure why I feel that way exactly, but the big yes I’m saying this week, in preparation for the event, is yes to being celebrated, sharing the joy, sharing the decision with people who care about us. Yes!

Just a few examples of how yes shows up often in my life and that while it’s not always easy to say yes, it is so often worth it!