Surrounding yourself with 'no' people is the quickest way to becoming a 'no' person

​A friend of mine shared this quote from Judith Bright yesterday:

"Be mindful of the things that nag, for those are the things of destiny."

Last week, I was having a conversation with a friend about writing books. I told her there are a lot of books I want to write, but there is only one I need to write.

It's a book that's been on my mind a long time. I wake up in the night with it 'nagging' at me. For a lot of reasons, it's a hard book to write. So I stall. I wait for just the magical time to write it to magically appear.

In the end though, I know I can't stall away the reality that writing it is a door to destiny. It's a roadblock standing in the way of more destiny.

My friend offered encouragement. But it was three simple words in that hit me the hardest.

She said, "don't say no."

I was sitting in the parking lot of the local pizza place when I read those words - don't say no.

I was caught off guard by how such a simple sentence could evoke such emotion. How 'don't say no' could suddenly have 'YES' stirring in me like a volcano ready to erupt.

Don't say no.

It can make all the difference - who you share your naggings with.

A few years ago, I mentioned to a friend the idea of running my first ultra - The Georgia Jewel. A few minutes later she emailed me her registration confirmation for the race. I think she decided to skip 'don't say no' and jumped right to 'heck yes.'

For two years, that race said no to me. I couldn't get it done. But last year, on my third attempt, fueled in large part by that email, I finally got a yes out of the race that seemed determined to convince me no was the right answer.

In many ways, we are built to believe 'no' about ourselves. We are built to be hesitant and skeptical and maybe even fearful of what we can do - what we can become. It's like no lives on the edge of our tongue, constantly begging us for a chance to come out and show off and hold us back from the world.

And it does so in such a noble way, like it's trying to protect us or something.

And you know what that 'no' living on the edge of our tongue loves most - it loves the people in our lives that tell us no.

That 'no' loves having allies.

Sitting in that pizza parking lot, reading those words - 'don't say no' - I think that's why it created quite a stir in me. Our entire being feels a fight coming on when it hears those words. The 'no' living on the edge of our tongue, when it hears don't say no, it clenches its fists and let's out a big whistle to desperately gather the no people in our lives.

"Hurry you all, come quick, he's about to say yes to a nagging."

It can make all the difference who you share your naggings with. So when you hear that whistle, run. Run the other way and let out your own whistle.

Whistle for the yes people in your life.

Yes is your destiny, not no.....