The Year of Saying Yes

This coming Tuesday, at exactly 10:14 a.m., I will turn 49 and thus begin my 50th year …. which I’m declaring “The Year of Saying Yes.”

Yes to the last minute lunch invitation that I always turn down.

Yes to the late dog walk when I just want to lie down.

Yes to staying at my desk for that extra hour or 3 to write and rewrite when I’m soooo done and I don’t feel like writing anymore.

Yes to traveling by plane or by car (no matter how complicated or difficult) to see the people I love most.

Yes to reading authors like James Michener and Sara Paretsky because I’m bored with the literary darlings and just want someone to tell me a goddamned good story.

Yes to more vegetables and less pizza (after tonight!)

Yes to writing more essays where I have the most unpopular opinion.

Yes to that miserable hike up Hell Hill.

Yes to less news … TV and internet and Twitter.

Yes to calling more and texting less.

I hear that calling — actually ringing someone’s phone and hoping they answer — is now considered rude.  What in the hell is wrong with us?

But I digress….

In this Year of Saying Yes, I’m starting by saying Yes to a last-minute invitation to hike and tour Hungary, Slovakia, and Poland with an acquaintance, 6 people I’ve never met, and 2 guides.

516

Which is why I’m reading Michener’s POLAND.

See?

I’m not messing around.

I’m 49.

____________

What are you trying that’s different, that’s shaking you up?

19 thoughts on “The Year of Saying Yes”

    1. Teri Post author

      Thanks, Bobbi — hope all’s well in Vancouver. (and really, what could be wrong with Vancouver? 😉

      1. lisahgolden

        I’m here long enough to get Sophie through high school so —- 3 years? I’m trying not to say it that clearly on social media in case my new employers might stumble across me out there, but yeah. I’m hear for the short term. It feels like going away to school or something. I know it’s not forever and I’m homesick as hell.

  4. donnaeve

    I wish I’d done some sort of significant marker/s for my 50th. If I’d not been plagued by injuries, I had wanted to run another marathon, but…, at any rate, your year of yes sounds perfect – especially the trip!

    1. Teri Post author

      If you asked my husband, he would probably tell you I’m a marker of every year and am just looking for an excuse to get into gear! But I really have been thinking about the women in my family (most gone, a few still here) and how they seem to shut down around this age. So off I go!

    1. Teri Post author

      As outgoing as I am, I do notice myself making more and more excuses “not” to do things. Is it age? Is it me?? I don’t know. A few years ago I vowed to start saying “no” more —- which wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be —- but maybe I’ve tipped too far over that edge.

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