It began innocently enough in the Fall of 2008. Each of us – Heather Pardon, Pat Armstrong and Tara Taylor – had been invited on a Caribbean Cruise by a mutual friend. We’d not yet met each other but our fates were sealed the moment each of us enthusiastically accepted the invitation and said “Yes!”.
It was the first of many “Yeses” that changed our lives and the beginning of the “Yes!” Domino Effect.
It was kind of crazy when we think back on it. We’d received the invite early one week and needed to be in Florida the following week to board the ship. Work and clients had to be re-arranged, pets had to be boarded, passports had to be updated and plane tickets had to be purchased. Yet to each of us, no just wasn’t an option.
“Yes!” felt like the right answer. How could we say no to going on a cruise hosted by Bob Proctor that offered four days of some of the top inspirational speakers in the world? On a gorgeous ship as we sailed the Caribbean!?
I supposed that we could have come up with the usual excuses. We shouldn’t go, we don’t have the money saved. We can’t take time off work. Oh, that’s far too luxurious for me, what will my friends and family think?
But that wouldn’t have been fun would it? It certainly wouldn’t have been what we truly wanted.
The three of us met on the cruise and hit it off faster than you can say “Waiter, get me another margarita!”
While sitting poolside together one day, having fun, we decided on a whim that we were going to simply say “YES!” to anything and everything that came along that day. Heck, we’d already said “YES!“ to being on the cruise that we figured we’d just keep rolling with it!
Want a coffee? “YES!”
Want to go swimming? “YES!”
Want some dessert? “Oh, YES!!!”
We had no clue what those three letters could do, or where they would take us, when we first started playing around with the idea.
But as the day kept getting better and better, we began to realize just how often most of us totally deny ourselves the things we truly want in life – things large and small. We may have many aspirations and desires … but feel conflicted because of the many demands placed on us from work, spouse, children, parents, chores, and more.
We just say “No” to ourselves and our deepest desires so often.
It becomes a habit – one we keep falling back on until our “dreaming muscles” begin to atrophy, and we eventually just give up on ALL our dreams.
Well, that one day of saying “YES!” completely transformed every one of us. We had so much fun and felt such a surge of energy and enthusiasm.
What began as a lark quickly grew into a realization of the incredible power we could have in all areas of our lives simply by saying “Yes” more often.
We also had NO idea how much our lives would change in the months to come. All because we began to say “YES!” But more on that in a future post……
We knew that we wanted to share this power and energy with as many people as we could. We wanted more people to experience the transformation that saying “Yes!” can make in all areas of your life. We wanted to empower others to say “Yes!” too and to start living a life that they truly LOVE.
And Just Say Yes! was born.
One “Yes!” and one day can truly change your life. “Yes!‘, it’s that simple.
We hope you’ll join us at Just Say Yes! 2011 in Ottawa on Saturday, November 19th, 2011. Event details and registration at www.justsayyesevent.com. Early-bird ticket pricing in effect only until October 30th!