Where’s Your YES Really Taking You?
Your YES really takes you closer or further from your goal. Yep, it’s as simple as that. Sure, simple concept, but much less simple when it comes to the execution of that concept.
YES (and NO) decisions can be among the most pivotal in our lives. And make no mistake, they are decisions before they are answers. Decisions that go from the small seemingly insignificant, to big and potentially life-altering.
Two words, YES and NO.
Take note of how you perceive YES and NO for yourself.
Does your YES really get the “good guy” recognition and NO, the not-so-good guy one? Truth bomb – they can both be either positive or negative.
Interesting mindset shift right there, right? So often NO is thought of as being bad, and YES as good.
Maybe that’s why so many people are not living their actual priorities and have really fuzzy boundaries when it comes to their relationships.
Quick pause & Side note → try this guide to get that ball rolling if you’re not quite sure as to what your true priorities even are, let alone setting some boundaries.
Where will your YES take you?
Tell me if you’ve ever fallen into one of these categories.
- First, is the one where you feel guilty for saying NO when at times it is actually a good thing. Good, when it comes to honoring your priorities, and protecting your boundaries.
- On the other hand, you can sometimes feel regretful for saying YES because you knew it should have been a NO in the first place.
Why? Why do you and I do this?
We’ve been conditioned to believe that YES is good and NO is bad.
Here are some very important questions to ask yourself:
- How do I see YES and NO?
- Do I see them as answers or decisions?
- And where are mine really taking me?
How you see your YES and NO is important because one is passive and the other intentional.
You see, we want to be able to say things like,
- and…
- but…
- maybe…
- if…
You’re not going to truly be open to your NEXT with an and, but, maybe or an if. Nope, it’s your YES and NO that get’s you somewhere. Now if that’s a place you’re trying to go, great! If it’s not, stick to those and, but, maybe, and ifs!
Extra reading homework!
Not to get you down a rabbit trail, but I’ve written a bit about the importance of your YES and NO more than a few times. You’re welcome to come back when you’re done this post…
How solid are your commitments?
Bringing it back…
With your answers to those questions in mind, take a look at some of your most recent situations or circumstances that got your YES (or your NO).
Were those outcomes positive, negative, or is it too early to tell? More importantly, are you even paying attention to just where those two words are leading? Still hanging on to your ifs and maybes?
I’m willing to bet the times you were passive with your YES or NO, you ended up as a part of someone else’s decision. And conversely, the times you were intentional with those two words, you were okay with the outcome, good or bad, because you owned your decision.
You can decide to just be or be determined to step into who you were meant to become.
Let’s unpack that.
Once you get solid on your identity beliefs you’ll experience how far your YES really can take you!
Who you are is not what you do, the role that you’re in, the title you carry, and certainly not the history that you’ve lived. In other words, it’s not your jobs, relationships, labels, accomplishments, or even your past that define you.
Refine you, yes, but not define, no. Your identity goes much deeper than that.
Hold onto your hat! We’re going to take a brief detour to the science of you. Your DNA, and literally a peek at how you were made.
Here’s my attempt to use a protein found in our bodies called, laminin, to illustrate to you how I believe you and I were divinely designed. But more than that, use this example of just how loved we are! Because you’ll see the plan for any of our mishaps, mistakes, and missteps were pre-orchestrated for the best possible outcome.
First, look at what this protein in all of our bodies, laminin, looks like.
See a distinct picture? Yes, that sure looks unmistakably like a cross.
The cross that binds us.
Now before you get all caught up in the symbolism of that image, let’s dig into just what laminin is and what it does, before we talk about what the cross is and does.
Laminin is made up of a family of proteins. Laminins can easily bind to each other and other proteins. So they are not loners, nor are they meant to be or function alone. Let’s say, that like us, they were built to help each other and do it collaboratively.
This protein, laminin, is critical when it comes to holding tissues and organs together. Huh, so laminin is like glue, and looks like a cross, interesting…
Oh, and another fun fact about laminin, it has three chains. You can surmise the symbolism in that for yourself, but I’m chalking that one up to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Hang in there! Your YES really has some potential…
There’s so much more I want to elaborate on here, but for the sake of where is your YES and NO taking you, we’ve got to keep it moving.
But for those who may be confused with the whole Trinity concept, I’ll give a loose example: As a wife, mom, and an entrepreneur those are only descriptions and individual snapshots of what makes me, me. There’s so much more to me, and to you too.
To try and help pull it all together, I found this passage in the New Testament, maybe it will help tie together this concept a little better for you.
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:15-17
Our three-in-one God helps us begin to understand just how much more there is to Him as Father and Creator, as Jesus the Son and His sacrifice for all who accept that gift, and as the Holy Spirit who is God’s living breathing authority, peace, comfort and wisdom secured in us because of Jesus’ work on the cross. But it’s on us to find out if it becomes part of our true identity. Will we give a YES or NO to discovering that for ourselves?
I pray that you accept where this kind of YES really can take you – to who you were designed to become all along!
Collaborating with the One who holds it all together for a better community right there with ya,
