Be A ‘Yes Man’!

You may remember this movie, you may not. The movie was a Jim Carrey movie from 2008 called ‘Yes Man‘ and the basic premise is that Jim Carrey’s character makes an agreement to say yes to everything he is asked. The results of this are amazing for Jim Carrey’s character as his life moves in fantastic new directions and he experiences things he never thought possible beforehand. I just saw this movie this weekend and it really spoke to me and I especially thought of it today.

‘”The world’s a playground. You know that when you are a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it.” I think it is so key that none of us ever forgets this.’

People have asked me numerous times over the past little while. “How am always doing so much cool stuff?” and “Where do I find out about all this awesome stuff?” and here is my secret…I have for many years been a “Yes Man”. I don’t say yes to everything offered to me obviously because that would just be ridiculous. But I do my utmost to try to experience life to the fullest and experience everything I can and eat as many servings as I can from the buffet of life. Obviously, it doesn’t always end up being the coolest thing in the world that I go to or participate in but the experiences I have are always worth it in my opinion. One line from Zooey Deschanel’s  character Allison really spoke to me “The world’s a playground. You know that when you are a kid, but somewhere along the way everyone forgets it.” I think it is so key that none of us ever forgets this.

But then I get the people who ask me the questions I mention above and tell me to let them know next time I am going to be doing something cool and then refuse to come out when I tell them about stuff going on. A couple of months later they will invariably again ask me how I find out about cool stuff & to invite them out/tell them about it. Now why would I do that? You already feigned interest in going out and enjoying the cornucopia of spectacles that our world has to offer and when faced with the opportunity to come enjoy them with me you refused time after time. How about the next time you hear about something YOU invite ME! I have a whole bunch of ‘naysaying friends’ whom I love individually in their own ways but who refuse to come out. Like one friend who I invited out to the Yelp Elite Event she spent 45 minutes arguing with me about whether or not she would ride public transit to get to the event or how she was going to get there. She wanted me to come pick her up (she lives north of me), drive her downtown, not drink the whole night (where there’s an open bar) all so I could have the privilege of her company at an awesome event I am invited to and wanted her to enjoy with me. I ended up hanging out with friends I only met in the past couple of months via Twitter – as I mentioned in a different previous post here meeting people on Twitter in Toronto changed my personal life.

They are the “do-ers”.

They are the “Yes Men (and Women)”.

They are the ones who, like Zooey Deschanel’s Allison, still haven’t forgotten that the world is our playground.

I am glad to be one of them.