Yes, of course.

In 2010, I was in Florida for 18 months for Grad School. Let’s just say that Florida is NOTHING like NY- which I knew but it was made FACT during my time there (so you can now use me as a source when boldly making that claim). To add to this very different environment, NO ONE in my class was my age and everyone seemed to have children! Nothing against them but I remember thinking, "where is everyone between the ages of 21-25"?!?! Don’t get me wrong, I am all for new experiences but at one point during this transition, I honestly thought about transferring out but I loved the school, I just disliked the social aspect. So what did I do?!

After talking to my cousin, we came up with the idea to make the transition more exciting by being the “yes man” (or "yes woman"). For all of you who have not seen the movie, "Yes Man" stars Jim Carey who enrolls himself into a personal development program based on a very simple idea: say yes to everything! Jim discovers the power of “Yes”, and sees his professional and romantic life turned upside down overnight. Although it brings about positive things such as an unexpected promotion and a new girlfriend, he also discovers that better can be good’s enemy, and that all opportunities shouldn’t be taken.

So for my 18 months there, I began the journey of saying YES to all new things that came my way– sensible, safe, and legal things– I was not trying to be THAT exciting lol. Many of us live our lives “too safe”. It's like we are afraid to EVER be disappointed- which is inevitable– so why even try to avoid it? I once heard Jay-Z say, “I'm not afraid to fail while on the road to success”. Little do people know that WHATEVER decision made, whether it lead to the desired outcome or not, will only bring about a whole new set of experiences. Now keep in mind, these may be experiences that you did not want to occur, but experience is not defined as “positive attainment of knowledge or skill” but simply the attainment of these two things. Whatever stage of your life you are in now, know that its never too late to become the person you could be……..so I dare you……say YES to the next opportunity that comes your way no matter HOW uninterested it may seem and let me know how it goes!

To help you with this journey, I highly recommend the book "Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person" by Shonda Rhimes.