A few months ago I enrolled in Improv classes because I love to laugh and I thought it would be an interesting challenge for me. Little did I know how the principles we learn in class translate so beautifully to life. The first rule in Improv is “yes, and…” You accept whatever you are given in a scene without judgment and then build on it. If your scene partner gives you the role of being a gorilla who just escaped captivity, you are the most liberated gorilla in the world. If the audience calls out for you to be terrified of your own shadow you take that level of paranoia to a ten. On stage, when you don’t say yes to what has been presented, the scene has no where to go and usually ends pitifully which is never funny. So anything that gets thrown at you, the answer is always “YES, I accept this AND will embrace it with everything I have.”

This rule often pushes me out of my comfort zone (yes, I’ve been a gorilla…twice) but the more I say yes and just go for it, the easier it gets. That is true on and off the stage. In life, resistance just makes things more difficult. Saying no and judging what comes our way is actually harder than simply accepting and making the best out of it. Consider all the ways you are saying no in your life by judging what is as not what you want. By not coming into acceptance with what is, be it a situation, our feelings, our job, relationships, bank account and so on, there is no where to go but deeper into resistance.

On the stage of your life, I invite you to UPdate your response to “YES, AND…!” I am fairly certain that not only will you experience greater ease in your life, you actually will surprise yourself with what you are able to create. Imagine if starting today you could move into total acceptance of everything that is happening free and clear of judgment. Imagine if you could build upon what is and create something incredible! It is possible. Just Say Yes and perhaps most importantly, have a sense of humor about everything.

Fondly,
Christine

“As I say yes to life, life says yes to me!”
Louise Hay

“Saying yes means getting up and acting on your belief that you can create meaning and purpose in whatever life hands you.”
Susan Jeffers

“When we learn to say a deep, passionate yes to the things that really matter, then peace begins to settle onto our lives like golden sunlight sifting to a forest floor.”
Thomas Kinkade