I like Jim Carrey's 2008 Yes Man as much as the next person. The classic Jim Carrey humor mixed with the absurdity of the storyline makes for a great flick.
But I find one of the most stressful things in life is knowing when to say yes or no to a new opportunity or adventure without losing weeks or even months of sleep.
Growing up I was almost always a “no” person; no to any kind of solo in drama class, no to playing indoor soccer, no to anything that would put me out of my comfort zone or had the potential to make me look foolish.
I never did anything new so I never learned anything new.
College was a little better, as I got to make some friends and memories with people who hadn't known who I was since Kindergarten.
But really it was working in the journalism that opened me up to saying “yes.” Because if the job falls outside of your comfort zone and you don't step up to get it done you'll have to explain to your editor why it is not sitting on his desk come deadline day.
Over the last year I've said yes to more things than I ever thought was personally possible; adopting a kitten that turned out to be a white version of the Tasmanian devil from Looney Tunes, buying a Ford Mustang car, jumping at the chance to work at the Pipestone Flyer and most recently took a freelance photography job for an American magazine, which was by far the most daunting.
So, coming from a former 'fraidy cat I encourage people to start saying yes to more opportunities that come their way. And it's okay to start small with little decisions; not everyone needs to quite their job and open a smoothie shop on a beach in California.
All that being said, I'm a gut instinct girl. I'll listen to it much more than my heart or my head. So if and when something comes along and the thought of it pushes me from normal fear to nauseous, head spinning terror I don't mind passing it up.
It's all about balance and adding a little adrenaline into life once in a while.
Amelia Naismith is the new reporter/photographer for The Leduc/Wetaskiwin Pipestone Flyer and writes a regular column for the paper.