When I came out with the cake I said, "you know, I was just thinking this morning about how I like this quality of yours: You accept."
She asked what I meant.
"I mean, when I called to invite you to the client dinner last year, you didn't say you'd get back to me. You didn't ask me 20 questions about it or have to consult with anyone else. You said yes, you'd come. I just like it when people are open like that. I think it's a good way to live."
"Oh," she said. "Well sure...why not?"
There was nothing remarkable about this choice of lifestyle to her. It's just the way she is. And I'm convinced this is why, for a woman in her mid-70's, my client is plenty youthful. She still goes skiing nearly every week in the winter and laughs at how all the younger people can't hang in as long as she can.
Who wants to let herself get/feel/be old when there is still so much living to do?...When there is still so much to say yes to.
A few years back I very mindfully became a yes woman.
It wasn't so much an experiment but a way to open myself back up to the world after closing off to much of it during the few years previous. I decided to try a new thing every day for a year and share a daily blog about it at this site. Some part of me knew that what my soul needed was exposure; it needed to be fed new things, introduced to new people, awakened to new experiences.
You invited me? I was there.
And it worked. It dragged me out of my darkened den and back into the land of curious learners. It got me exploring the East Bay (the area was new to me at the time) and attending different kinds of parties and just engaging in weird shit I wouldn't have, otherwise.
I can see no other way to live happily anymore. This year is off to a good start. I've booked travel to a number of cities I've never visited before and have been to new venues and restaurants. In a few months I'm going with the client I mentioned to a nearby restaurant; she's going to show me the place where cougars go to pick up on young men (even though that was never her purpose in going there). Haa!
I love the thought.
I mean I love the thought of living by my client's example. If someone invites me, I should accept (unless the idea is dangerous or ill-advised or I just have previous plans). If an offer is extended, I will seize upon it. If a person reaches out a hand to shake mine, I will meet it where it's at, literally and figuratively. Because every super cool, amazing person in my life was at one point unknown to me (like my client was just 8 months ago)...and I hate the thought of having missed out on any of them.
P.S. please forgive my rusty writing. It's been way too long.
