The other day I watched a movie called YES MAN that starred Jim Carrey. The basic plot of the story was that this man lived a very boring life because he never exposed himself to new things and was consistently saying “no.” He was so wrapped up in his miserable life that he never thought about what saying “no” meant to other people. He got so used to saying “no” that when he did make a commitment to someone he usually forgot about that commitment because he was not used to saying ‘yes’ to anything. This caused him to hurt or destroy friendships with loved ones and those closest to him. He eventually ran into an old friend who talked him into attending a motivational seminar where people refused to say ‘no’ in their lives and were constantly saying ‘yes.’ Events in his life lead him to attend this conference where he made a pact with the YES GURU to say ‘yes’ to everything that came into his life – with a warning, that if he said ‘no’ then very bad things were going to happen. The character in the movie soon begins saying ‘yes’ to everything which leads him on many crazy life adventures and experiences, including some very, very bad things that he should have said 'no' to. Now, this movie goes a little overboard in the fact that the man feels like if he says ‘no’ then his life will be severally cursed or that karma would come back and get him. I like the basic principle of the story in the fact that there are so many times in my life that I say ‘no’ to my children. That is probably the number 1 word that comes out of my mouth. I decided to make a commitment to my children – with reasonable boundaries (as I refuse to go to McDonald’s or buy them things) – that I will say “yes” more in 2009. I am confident that I will not experience some of the wild escapades that the man in YES MAN experienced, but that I will share some great and intimate experiences with my kids. I was put to the test the other night when Hunter and Ryan asked to watch CLONE WARS with them. Though I had 100 other things to do, I laid on the floor and watched the movie with them. Before long, I had both boys laying on the floor along side me, snuggling close and watching the movie. That is definitely one of life’s little treasures that only parents can fully understand.
Friday, January 16, 2009
YES DAD
The other day I watched a movie called YES MAN that starred Jim Carrey. The basic plot of the story was that this man lived a very boring life because he never exposed himself to new things and was consistently saying “no.” He was so wrapped up in his miserable life that he never thought about what saying “no” meant to other people. He got so used to saying “no” that when he did make a commitment to someone he usually forgot about that commitment because he was not used to saying ‘yes’ to anything. This caused him to hurt or destroy friendships with loved ones and those closest to him. He eventually ran into an old friend who talked him into attending a motivational seminar where people refused to say ‘no’ in their lives and were constantly saying ‘yes.’ Events in his life lead him to attend this conference where he made a pact with the YES GURU to say ‘yes’ to everything that came into his life – with a warning, that if he said ‘no’ then very bad things were going to happen. The character in the movie soon begins saying ‘yes’ to everything which leads him on many crazy life adventures and experiences, including some very, very bad things that he should have said 'no' to. Now, this movie goes a little overboard in the fact that the man feels like if he says ‘no’ then his life will be severally cursed or that karma would come back and get him. I like the basic principle of the story in the fact that there are so many times in my life that I say ‘no’ to my children. That is probably the number 1 word that comes out of my mouth. I decided to make a commitment to my children – with reasonable boundaries (as I refuse to go to McDonald’s or buy them things) – that I will say “yes” more in 2009. I am confident that I will not experience some of the wild escapades that the man in YES MAN experienced, but that I will share some great and intimate experiences with my kids. I was put to the test the other night when Hunter and Ryan asked to watch CLONE WARS with them. Though I had 100 other things to do, I laid on the floor and watched the movie with them. Before long, I had both boys laying on the floor along side me, snuggling close and watching the movie. That is definitely one of life’s little treasures that only parents can fully understand.
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2 comments:
I think I need to watch that movie. Keep us up to date on how your YES DAD goes. I think kids love it when we do the simple things like read a book with them or spend time with them watching a movie they like. They will always remember those moments.Also I hope you remind your kids how lucky or maybe I should say fortunate they are to have you and stacey as their parents.
If you watch the movie - be careful, there are a few 'dirty' parts, but the main idea of the movie is good and there are some really funny parts.
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