Though I’ve always loved adventures of almost any kind, I admit that I wasn’t much of a “yes” person to begin, even in times where I had the freedom to make my own choices. When I got to college, I had an awful condition called scoliosis that made me very tired and had me in constant pain, I was nervous of the college experience and I didn’t know where I fit in right away. I tried everything I could to make myself more of an outgoing freshman, but I think I let the little things get to me and I was scared to try new things.
I went to a lot of concerts with friends from high school, but that was it, they were from high school. I wasn’t really branching out, even though I considered things like getting a new job and joining a club “new” and “exciting.” They were, of course, but I was still hanging out with the same people, doing mainly the same thing as before, so I wasn’t really the “new” person I called myself.
Once I got my surgery in the summer before sophomore year, I felt like a new person and therefore treated my life like a new one, as if I was starting over. After facing a surgery like that, I realized how important it is to make the most of daily life because it could literally be taken away from you in the next moment. At 19, I was faced with a severe surgery and I’m glad I had it to wake me up.
Ever since that moment, I have said “yes” to just about every opportunity possible. I said “yes” to flying or driving to multiple states to see bands I love in concert, ranging from Utah to Illinois. I’ve applied for every job I could to become a more experienced journalist- even if the position seemed out of reach, I went for it. Thank goodness I did because I became a national blogger. I got a tattoo that meant a lot to me because I wanted to and I didn’t worry about what everyone else thought. I buy myself a latte from my favorite coffee shop once a week because it makes my week better.
I try to say “yes” to everything from big things to small things, just because I can. Why not? Yes I am a college student, so I may not be rich right now and I may not have any idea as to where the next few years will leave me. No, I don’t have a job set up after college or even any idea where I want to be and for once I’m saying, “that’s okay, be happy with what you have now. Do what you want to do right now.” I always used to fear not having a plan, but when it comes to the future of my life and where I should be, I think about it, but I have worked on dwelling on the things that could go wrong less because I just don’t know what’s going to happen and there’s honestly no way to find out.
If I wait to enjoy the things I love right now, then what’s the point? If I have the health, the cash and the means to do something, anything at all, I’m going to do it. As cheesy as it is, tomorrow is not guaranteed, but if you go through something traumatic, you realize how true and scary that realization is. I will not say “no” to anything that I want to do because I want to make every second I have on this Earth worth my time, I want it to make me smile and I want to look back on these moments where being selfish is okay and think, “thank God I didn’t just sit and watch my youth go by.”
I want to have fun and I want to live a life where I’m in love with myself and what I am doing. It’s what I deserve, and everyone reading this deserves it too. Say “yes” more because you’re just wasting time by not doing a single thing with the moments you have.