So today I thought I'd share a couple of things that I'm fairly certain not many people know about me. The first thing is that I like to watch romantic comedies. So much so that I will watch them by myself; a single male. The second thing is what I would say is my greatest regret. When I was about ten years old my father had a small sailing boat. He really enjoyed having it. One day he showed up during my school lunch hour and asked me to go sailing with him. I remember it was a beautiful spring day. The sky was blue and there were white puffy clouds in the sky. It would have been a great day for sailing. I of course said no. I was supposed to have a test in the afternoon and so I told my dad that I couldn't miss it. He seemed disappointed but smiled and said okay. It turned out that my test was postponed till the next day. To this day some twenty plus years later I regret not going sailing. I regret not spending that perfect afternoon with my father. To this day I begin to cry when I think of it.
I know that these two things must seem horribly unrelated but bear with me. I came across a commencement speach that Stephen Colbert recently gave at Knox college. In his speach he says the following ...
Well, you are about to start the greatest improvisation of all. With no
script. No idea what’s going to happen, often with people and places you have
never seen before. And you are not in control. So say “yes.” And if you’re
lucky, you’ll find people who will say “yes” back.
Now will saying “yes” get you in trouble at times? Will saying “yes”
lead you to doing some foolish things? Yes it will. But don’t be afraid to be a
fool. Remember, you cannot be both young and wise. Young people who pretend to
be wise to the ways of the world are mostly just cynics. Cynicism masquerades as
wisdom, but it is the farthest thing from it. Because cynics don’t learn
anything. Because cynicism is a self-imposed blindness, a rejection of the world
because we are afraid it will hurt us or disappoint us. Cynics always say no.
But saying “yes” begins things. Saying “yes” is how things grow. Saying “yes”
leads to knowledge. “Yes” is for young people. So for as long as you have the
strength to, say “yes.”
When I got each of my three piercings I had members of my family ask 'why'. At one point I was asked to not show my tongue piercing to my niece lest she get a wrong idea. When I got my tattoo I was asked 'why' more insistently. They seemed to think that I had no idea that tattoo's were essentially for life. What they didn't know was that I wrestled with each decision for months before I finally went and got them done. I remember thinking that I can't worry about regretting these actions or decisions. I remember realizing that I couldn't afford to worry about regretting every decision I made because the end result is inaction; doing nothing in an effort to avoid regret. Of course that is the falacy of such thinking because in living a life avoiding potential regret one is invariably doomed to look back someday and realize that they never really lived and that would be the biggest regret one could have.
So how do all of these random things relate? Well Mr. Colbert's advice is good advice; we can't live our lives saying no. To truly live life we are required to say yes whenever we can. Saying yes may lead to regrets but it won't be the regrets of inaction, the regrets of the unlived life. Saying yes also inspires hope, the hope of something new, wonderous and beautiful. This is where my enjoyment of romantic comedies comes in for in them I see people living life, saying yes, chancing regrets and living life to its fullest by seeking love. I hate the fact that I said no to my father that day because in all of the ways that I can say 'I love you' to my father the one that he appreciates the most is me taking the time to share in the things that he enjoys and wants to share with me his son. If I had said yes my greatest regret might have been my greatest memory.
So please, say yes.
