Y is for Yes in the A to Z Challenge. I know, when it came to the letter N, I told you why it’s important to say No. And it’s still important to say no. But here’s why you should say yes!

I was originally going to write about Yearn or Yen for Y but my friend Elena from Making Midlife Matter challenged me to use Yes since I already used No.

Some people gravitate towards no. Some people naturally lean towards yes.I said yes to everything.

Allison Torres in Yes Day

If you saw the movie Yes Day, then you know that Allison Torres, played by Jennifer Garner, was someone who said yes to every adventure that came her way. Games, hiking, backpacking in other countries, scuba diving, rock climbing. Anything at all. Then she became a mother and everything changed. In her bid to keep her children safe, she said no to everything. And I mean everything.

No, until someone convinced her that doing a Yes Day with her children was important. And the movie is about how that day went.

I’m sure that happens to many of us when we become moms. When we’re suddenly responsible for the life of a baby. We used to be fun, going out and finding adventure. Then we became dull, not all of us but I bet most of us. I know I did. Heights became my fear and wouldn’t do anything with my son that involved heights. I didn’t necessarily stop him but I couldn’t do it with him.

Because of that fear, I missed out on a lot with him. I didn’t take him up into the Empire State Building, something I used to do a lot as a child. My girlfriend had to take him up with her son. We did many things together in NYC that day but that’s one thing I missed out on.

I also didn’t take him on the Maid of the Mist or the Spanish Aero cars over the whirlpool in Niagara Falls. I couldn’t even hike the Bright Angel Point trail in the Grand Canyon because as soon as it started dropping off on both sides, my legs stopped moving forward. Luckily, my son went forward with our friends.

I started confronting my fears by doing hut hikes in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. I even went on the Maid of the Mist and the Spanish Aero car and to the top of the Empire State Building again. Sure, I’m still afraid of heights but I take the risk. It started on that first Niagara Falls trip where I agreed to ride the glass elevator up to the Revolving Dining Room in the Skylon Falls Tower.

I’ve also said yes to yoga teacher training, and yoga retreats (including one by myself—eek!) Most recently I said yes to moving to Florida and then moving from Orlando to Bradenton.

You should say yes, but there needs to be balance. Life is a series of yeses and nos and it’s up to us to choose wisely when to say them.