Saying Yes
Although there is some pain to rejoining the workaday world after a long holiday weekend, there’s also a little more room for something nice. Last night I got into bed and started in on a typical Sunday-night whine of resistance: “I don’t want the weekend to be over, I don’t want to go back to work, I don’t want to go to sleep.” But before the words even came out of my mouth, I stopped myself. And I credit Oprah. I had spent the two hours soaking in a lukewarm bath reading O Magazine‘s farewell issue to the Oprah show. There were so many stories from assistants, Gayle, and senior producers about annoyances and snafus that have come up over the past 25 years. But the resolution was always sort of the same: instead of getting annoyed or frustrated with what was happening, Oprah consciously chose to put on a smile and roll with it. And everything was fine.
So I thought right then and there: What if I just said yes? What if I just gave up the work of resisting what is (and what’s coming) and instead just decided to greet it? It took three days of camping under the stars, eating hamburgers, and drinking rosé in a swimming pool to be able to so zenly embrace the imminent work week. But it felt really nice to not voice those Sunday night whines and instead just roll over, run my hand over the crisp cotton white sheets and be grateful for the night of sleep ahead. It felt, strangely perhaps, like a burden had been lifted. It felt lighter.
Don’t you love that Sunday night suspension, when you can look out on the week ahead and it still seems serene? We pencil in our plans for kickboxing, the dinner menus, a drink with a friend, maybe even a date with ourselves to just read somewhere quiet. The days seem neat and still under our control. But when they do inevitably start spinning and getting crowded with clutter, my goal is to still just say yes to it. Something quite simple feels like a revelation but: I have this feeling that flowing with the current will feel a lot easier than kicking against it.
“Oh yes!” print from Etsy
Lindsey: I love this! What an inspiration. Thank you. xox50 weeks ago
Livia: Great post Sarah! I have only a month to go at work before starting mat leave and I’ve been finding it hard to make it through the work weeks so I really needed this reminder to just roll with it. Always enjoy your blog, Thanks.
50 weeks ago
Amy C: I read Tina Fey’s “Bossypants” a few weeks ago, and she said that the key to good improv is to “always say yes.” Tina then says the key to GREAT improv is to say “yes, and….” you jump on board of whatever your partner hands you and make it even better, whackier, funnier. I think it’s such a great lesson for life – when something (even if it is a little outrageous) gets handed to us, instead of running from it or completely controlling it, take and run even further with it! Say Yes!, And….50 weeks ago
deanne: Thanks for this! Tomorrow starts my busiest, craziest time at work (summer reading at the library) and I am just dreading it. Saying yes may take some of the pain away!50 weeks ago
Lindsey and Livia, I’m so glad this post came to you both at the right time.
Amy C, I love the idea of saying yes, and… (And I am newly and deeply in love with Amy Poehler.)
deanne, Let me know if it works! (I hope it does!)50 weeks ago
Leili Learning Life: Goodness, it seems like this post was a direct response to my attitude today. My Monday blues seemed bitterly intensified following the 3-day weekend. I felt guilty that I couldn’t get over it. I’m not very familiar with the “Sunday night suspension” you speak of, but I’ll have to keep this post in mind next weekend. And now you’ve inspired me to say yes to a bath.
50 weeks ago
Amy --- Just A Titch: I just love this.50 weeks ago
Mills: such a good message, one that I feel like I need to hear over and over again. thanks!50 weeks ago
marli: my word that was a lovely post. i too am a big fan of the sunday evening. it’s just about perfect. the dinner dishes are done, the drink of choice is cracked open, and the week’s possibility is in front of me.
your blog is one of the first ones i started to read a few years ago. i fell in love with blogging because of your beautiful blog. and i just wanted to say thank you.
of course my reader has grown to hundreds by this point… but i always wander back to yours to be reinspired.
thank you sarah.50 weeks ago
caitlin: this is beautiful. sometimes the stress of work can build up without release, and the carousel of each week can come around too quickly. today is my monday, and i’ve been dragging my feet in worse-than-usual protest, feeling too tired, too stressed, too overwhelmed. but deciding to greet it regardless makes me feel in a position of power rather than a victim.
inspirational as always– thank you sarah!50 weeks ago
Mel: Exactly what I need to hear today… thank you Sarah!33 weeks ago