Alyssa Lauren Thomas

I believe there are two different types of people. The pessimists and the optimists. The glass half fullers, and the glass half emptiers. Now some of you may believe you’re a pessimist who likes to be pleasantly surprised when something wonderful actually happens. Or some of you like to think that if you believe the worst is going to happen, then the best will actually happen. Like a sick twisted shakespearean plot. At the end of the day, you are ultimately an optimist because you do believe the best will happen, only at the sacrifice of your own comfort and sanity.

A few years ago i decided to drop my judgements about people and things and just adopt a “yes” attitude. We’ve seen plenty of stories about this and movies and plot lines that follow this theory. But I was simply exhausted at the thought that everything had a catch, or things weren’t the way they were supposed to be.

We have no idea how life actually works, there is no rule book. Random things happen at random times and we can believe it’s fate or we can believe it’s sheer coincidence. Whatever I was presented in that moment I decided was there to teach me a lesson or to broaden my horizons or lead me to a path I was supposed to be on.

When I started saying yes to more things, more things started coming my way. I said yes to moving to a new city, I said yes to a new job, I said yes to Paris, I said yes to traveling to different countries with people I had just met, I said yes to random weekend getaways that introduced me to new people, I said yes to first dates and to dates with boys I didn’t think i’d ever like, only to be pleasantly surprised. I said yes to myself. I said yes to letting go of expectations. I said yes to letting go of my past. I said yes to facing some of my fears. I said yes to acknowledging my dreams. I said yes to my creativity.

We all have expectations in our minds. We all have our goals, our desires, our dreams. A mentor of mine once told me, “Look at the person who has the career you want, and start to emulate the steps they took to get there.” After hours of strategizing and feeling like I was in a loop of disappointment after not knowing the next steps I became frustrated. Every person who I was inspired by had a breakthrough “moment.” A moment that seemed to be so curated and specific to them it almost seemed like sheer luck. It made me obsess over what my “moment” would be. Would I ever get one? Did I have to create one? Would I know that was going to be my “moment?” It drove me crazy.

But that’s when I look back and think of all the minuscule moments i’ve had in my life that were extremely pivotal and I didn’t know it until after I had said “yes.” It made me realize that life isn’t comprised of one big breakthrough moment. It’s comprised of tiny yeses that we get to choose to make on a daily basis. And the more fun we have and the more life we live, the more we get to say yes. We just have to trust the process and release the resistance. So stop torturing yourself, let your hair down, and say yes! I promise, you will have some crazy stories. 

Stay tuned,

Alyssa Lauren Thomas